Red
by Riana Salvatore
Summary: Takes place after Season 1. It's been several months since anyone has seen the vigilante. Starling City is still in trouble. Without a hero, it requires a new hero to save it.
1. Chapter 1

It's been a few months now. It's been a few months since I've seen my brother. I knew that he was trying to get over the fact that our mother and Malcolm had killed 503 people, including Tommy. Malcolm was found on top of his building with an arrow in him, but more importantly with arrows of his own. I guess that crossed Malcolm off the list for the identity of the vigilante. Speaking of which, he also hasn't been seen for a while. Maybe he was upset about being unable to stop the Undertaking or maybe he was killed trying to stop it.

In Oliver's absence, I took over the club. I think I've done a pretty good job of keeping it afloat. Since I am 18, I can purchase alcohol for distribution as long as I'm not supplying it to minors or consuming it. I have Roy as one of my waiters. I'm at least glad that he's been there for me.

When I'm not with Roy or at work, I'm training. This city still has problems. The problems just aren't going to go away by themselves. Though I don't agree with most of his methods, (mainly going after my mom, although in hindsight, he might have been right to), he did make things better. I can't be like him. I can't kill like him. I want to make a difference, not send people to the morgue.

I think I'm almost ready. I have my costume ready. I didn't need a lot of training with a bow. I won an archery tournament when I was younger. I did have to study some anatomy to know where I could hit someone to not kill them. I was not a copycat. If anything, I was Hit Girl, except much less violent.

I needed to decide where I was going to go. I don't know who I wanted to go up against. I figured that taking on the Triad probably wouldn't be a good idea. I could start small. I needed to do this in the dark. I decided to do this in the Glades. I guess going by the vigilante's method of not getting caught would be the best idea. Getting caught would surely lead to my death.

I decided that I could get a police scanner. They're not hard to obtain. Most newspapers have them for their crime beats. It turned out that there was break-in at the museum. A lot of the artifacts had been damaged, but it was still open. It obviously wasn't right now, but I guess that was to be expected. I found an entrance and noticed that there was dead security guard on the floor. I guess I needed to careful.

I sneaked in the shadows as I heard voices. I doubt I could get them to just surrender peacefully. I saw one of them from behind. I knew I had only shot before I was noticed, so I would need to make it count. I fired and hit him right in the ass…or up. That had to really hurt. He screamed loudly.

My arrows, just like my costume were red. A red hoodie with a bulletproof vest and red skirt and black stockings with red tennis shoes and a black mask over my eyes.

"What the hell?" One of them asked. "You said that the vigilante was gone."

"He is." I replied as I stepped out. "But there is a new hero in Starling City."

One of them reached for his gun, but I quickly shot into his shoulder. After that there was one more. I went up the stairs as he began to fire at me. I needed to get the right shot and fired, hitting him in the shoulder as well and pinning him to the wall. I also threw a net at the guy with that I gave hemorrhoids to. At that time, I heard police sirens. I knew I had to make a break for it. I went up the stairs and to the roof. I had a feeling that they would send someone after me and I was right. I had nowhere to go except to the next building. I figured I would need to learn to jump. I had to get back. I headed back home, figuring that I would have to come up with a better hideout. I was pretty much alone now. There were only a few guards and they probably thought I was asleep.

The important thing was I was successful in my first night out. I saw the news reporting that there was a new vigilante in town and I apparently had a reward out on me.

For starters, this is set a month before Oliver's return. Thea is not going to meet up with him in action for a while. Is there anyone that you want to see Red fight? Please don't forget to review.


	2. Ink

I woke up kind of late. This was the good thing about not being in school anymore. I could have gone to college, but I definitely did not need the money. I already had my own business. I simply would not have the time for college and studying. I already was having trouble figuring out how to run to the club. I mean it's been a success so far, but I haven't been living a double life. I suddenly heard the intercom in my room go off.

"Miss Queen, your boyfriend is here to see you." The security guard, Dick said. Yes, that is his real name. He was kind of old. He probably would be good at his job if he was working for anyone else.

"Let him in." I responded, pressing the button. He had seen me in my pajamas before, and also less. Eventually, my door opened and Roy walked in.

"Did you hear that someone stopped a robbery of the museum last night?" He asked me. Yes, I was there, but I couldn't tell him that. I don't want anyone to know my secret. I know I am possibly putting our relationship on the line if he finds out, but I'd rather not put him in the line of fire, especially since he's already been without an inch of his life once.

"Is the vigilante back?" I asked, playing dumb.

"No, but there's a new vigilante." Roy answered. "This one is a girl. She was described as wearing red."

"Well, I guess since the vigilante disappeared, someone else decided to take his place." I reasoned. "It's probably someone from the Glades who wants to help the people who lost everything that they had. She was probably inspired by him. I mean she uses arrows like him."

"How did you know you that she uses arrows?" He asked. Damn, I already said too much.

"Because don't all of them use arrows?" I asked quickly. "So did she kill anyone?"

"There was security guard killed, but it sounds like the robbers were responsible for that." He explained.

"So I guess we won't have to worry about Laurel's dad taking us to see anyone that she killed in the morgue." I joked. In all seriousness, I didn't want that.

"I'm pretty sure that he was demoted because I saw him in a cop uniform." He replied. I guess he didn't realize it was a joke.

"Yes, I knew that." I told him. "Laurel is now working for the DA. On a different note, we need to talk about all of the fights that you're getting in."

"I have to do what I can." Roy argued.

"What good is going after every random thug going to do you?" I challenged. I knew that I couldn't save everyone and that I would have to pick and choose. I guess I understood why he wasn't always there. I just had to hope that I could make the right choices. "Do you really think getting beat up is helping?"

"I've helped some people get away." He pointed out.

"You know who else is good at that: The cops." I stated. "You're lucky that none of these guys have pulled a gun on you yet. With my mom in jail and my brother who knows where, you're all I've got right now."

That's another reason why I can't let him know who I am.

"So where do you think that your brother is right now?" Roy asked. I could probably think of a hundred different answers for that question. I wish I had a real idea.

"He's probably somewhere that's equally far from here and the island he was found on." I answered. If anything, he wouldn't want to go back there.

That night, I was at the club. I wasn't sure what I was going to do next, but I had to make sure that the business was doing well. You know Ollie had an office in the basement. Maybe I can use that as my hideout. I would have to inspect it sometime. He had it passcode locked and I never decided to try to decipher the code because I never needed it.

At some point, I ended up watching the bar because of a bathroom break. That happened to be when I saw Ollie's former bodyguard Diggle.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while." I noted.

"Are you running the place?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have my own business just after getting out of high school." I responded. "And I've also withheld Ollie's no drugs rule and I'm not serving minors. So do you have any idea where my brother is right now?"

"I've done a lot of searching for him but haven't been able to find him." Diggle answered. "How have you been?"

"I've been managing and not just the club." I answered. "So did you know Tommy?"

"I didn't really know him that well." He replied.

"Maybe it's a good thing that he died." I remarked. "I mean I would prefer him to be alive, but I get dirty looks everywhere I go and so did Ollie before he left. I missed out on my own graduation. I can only imagine what Tommy would have to go through since his dad was the ringleader in everything. He probably wouldn't be able to walk through the Glades without a suit of armor. Do you want a drink?"

"Yes." He replied as I poured him a shot.

At that moment, someone came up to me and threw a glass of something on me.

"Do you mind helping me out with something?" I asked Diggle.

I went to find the man that had tossed the drink at me.

"So you like tossing drinks at people?" I asked. "I was wondering if you happen to know who the owner of this club is."

"What are you going to do about it, Bitch?" He asked me as I had Diggle walk over to us.

"I'm not going to do anything." I responded as Diggle picked the guy up and carried him to the door. "But my friend is going to throw you like you threw your drink."

The crowd watched as Diggle threw him out the door.

"Are you doing anything right now?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Diggle asked.

"I was wondering if you had a job." I explained. "I could use a bouncer and I'm willing to pay you whatever my mom was paying you."

"Shouldn't your assets be frozen?" Diggle asked. I guess he hadn't been paying that much attention to the news.

"No, they thought it was unfair to punish Oliver and I for our mother's transgressions." I explained.

"Well I don't really know if bouncer is my thing." Diggle admitted. "I prefer armed gigs."

"Well maybe you can do it for a little while and if you get another job, you can leave." I replied. "Also I don't have a problem with you having a gun. I think under the circumstances, it would be a good idea to have someone armed on hand."

"I guess it would be good to have a paycheck right now." He admitted. "I'm going to find him."

"I'd like to know when you do." I told him. "With Tommy dead, you might be the closest thing to a friend that he's got."

In the morning, I turned on the news to see if I could any intel on criminal activity in the city. I happened to see that there was a murder. I couldn't help but notice that the suspect looked familiar. I then realized that it was the guy that Diggle threw out of the club. I actually played a part in his death. Granted, there was no way that I was letting him stay and he could have still been killed anyway. It turned out that he was the third victim killed in the same manner of having his throat and wrists slit. That means that there's a serial killer around. This is something that I need to figure out.

I wrote his name down and did a search to see if I could find the names of the other victims. Most serial killers do not select their victims randomly. They usually all have something in common. I had to figure out what these three had in common before the next victim is killed.

I began to look through the reports to see if I could find anything. All I could get was that they were all guys with brown hair. That couldn't have been the only reason that these guys were killed. If it was, I wasn't going to be able to determine who the next victim would be because the majority of the people in Starling City had brown hair. There had to be something more. I wondered how I would be able to get the information. Maybe I could talk to the police since I saw him that night.

I went to the station and happened to find…Officer Lance.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me.

"I just wanted to come in and talk to someone. I heard about the death of Norm Johnson." I replied as I looked around the station.

"Did you know him?" Lance questioned.

"He threw a drink at me last night so I had him thrown out of my club." I explained.

"Your club?" He responded in disbelief. Did people really not know that I owned a club? Okay, I was probably the youngest club owner in town and possibly the country.

"Yes, I took over my brother's club when he left. Someone has to keep it running." I explained. "Can you tell me anything about his death?"

"Well I can say it wasn't by the vigilante, but that's all that I can say." He told me. "I got demoted for saying too much and I'm not going to keep talking to everyone."

Okay, that was a dead end. There had to something that I could do to figure it out. I wish I could go to the morgue to see if I could get any autopsy information, but that might work best with a distraction. Maybe I could find someone who knows something about Norm. I do remember something about him being a construction worker.

I guess I could go to the construction company. I think I would go at night. I would have some time before the club opened.

I went home and went out, putting on my costume. I needed to have my bow to make sure that I could them to talk. I made my way to the construction site. I had looked up the site manager's name. I went up to the top and turned out all of the lights.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"I need information on Norm Johnson." I replied. "Did he have anything in common with the other two men that were killed?"

"Why should I tell you anything?" He asked.

I shot an arrow that went right by his hands.

"Okay, they were all employees of the company." He replied hastily. "One day they were all harassing this girl with these tattoos."

"Were there are any others?" I questioned as I pointed the bow at him.

"There was one more: Dalton Smith." He replied. "Please don't kill me. I have a young son."

I then ran away to see if I could find anything about Dalton. I took out my smartphone to see if I could look up his Facebook page to see if there was anything. I did find a tweet that said that he was going to a strip club. This guy must be pretty stupid if he thought it was a good idea to announce his location to the world when three of his buddies were killed in the last week. I hoped that I would be able to get there before it was too late. Luckily, I knew exactly where the club was. I knew my competition…and I had been there once.

I noticed him coming outside the side door and into one of the alleys. I couldn't help but notice that the stripper seemed to have a high amount of tattoos. That seemed like a strange coincidence. It seemed like she was the culprit, but I wasn't going to attack until I knew for sure. I stood on top of a building and listened to their conversation.

"So why are we doing this out here?" Dalton asked. Having sex in an alley seemed like a bad idea all-around.

"I wanted to be somewhere quiet." The tattooed stripper said as she took two pairs of handcuffs out and attached Dalton's hands to a pair of poles. "My name is Lindsay, Dalton."

She was definitely looking like the killer now. I still wasn't going to make a move.

"How do you know my name?" Dalton asked.

"I looked up the names of the people that harassed me." Lindsay replied. "I asked your company to rebuild my shop after the quake, but I was turned down. I figure that if I kill enough of you, maybe you guys will get off your asses and stop harassing women."

At that point, she took out what appeared to be a giant, extra-sharp tattoo needle.

"Whoa, now, put that down." Dalton begged. I knew I had to spring into action. I shot an arrow with a zip-line on it and slid down. I came down and kicked at Lindsay, knocking her to the ground.

"What are you doing here?" Dalton asked.

"I'm saving your ass, so stop staring at mine." I ordered. At that point, Lindsay got up and grabbed her weapon.

"I don't think you were invited to this." Lindsay told me. "Who do you think you are? The Hood?"

"No." I replied. "But you've killed your last construction worker." I responded. I couldn't help but realize how cheesy that sounded. I readied my bow, but she stabbed her weapon at me and I realized that I needed to get farther away from her.

I back flipped and stood farther away, and readied myself. She charged at me and I quickly fired. My net released over her as I heard the sounds of sirens. I knew I had to get out of here. I began to climb the ladder on the building.

"What about me?" Dalton asked.

"I don't have time." I told him. "The cops can let you go."

Now I just saved my first life. I think I was starting to get the hang of this hero business.

I decided to go with an original villain for right now, but we will be seeing some of the classic villains from the series. Also Thea is going to have to save Roy at least once. Lindsay is played Megan Fox. Also we got appearances by Diggle and Lance. Will Diggle discover vigilantism runs in the family? Please don't forget to review.


	3. Wolf

After getting up at my usual time, I turned on the TV to see what the news had to say about me. Sure enough, there was an artist rendition of me.

"Starling City's newest vigilante struck again last night." The reporter said. "A man was rescued from a former tattooist turned killer by what the vigilante that the police have codenamed Red Riding Hood."

I turned off the TV and grimaced. Never once did that name cross my mind. I guess I wasn't doing this for the glory, but I can't believe that they're calling me Red Riding Hood. I couldn't get them to change it. Since when is Red Riding Hood a badass vigilante? I guess in _Once Upon a Time_, but she's also a werewolf in that.

Right now I needed to find a way to get into that secret room in the club to see if I can use it as my hideout. I need to find out whom to go to for that. The research I did showed me that the company that installed it was shut down after the quake. I needed to go somewhere else. I remember that there was IT department at Queen Consolidated. It hasn't been in business recently, but I think I knew someone who could help with that.

I got into my car and began to drive out. As I was leaving the gate, I noticed Roy.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I'm going to see my stepdad." I answered. "I think I want to be alone with this. It's been a few weeks since I've seen him."

"I didn't think that you were still seeing him after he and your mom divorced." Roy remarked.

"Roy, Walter is the closest thing to a father that I have. I trust him more than I do my mom." I explained.

"Have you seen her yet?" He questioned.

"Nope, and I'm still not going to." I answered. "Now, I need to get going. I'll talk to you later."

I drove to Starling National Bank. He had taken over after the divorce. I hoped that he would be able to help. I walked inside to his office.

"Thea, it's good to see you." He told me as he gave me a hug. "Have you talked to your brother recently?"

"No." I answered.

"How is the business going?" He asked. I liked that he asked about these things.

"It's going good." I answered. "I'm actually here because I need a favor."

"Are you in any sort of trouble?" Walter questioned.

"No, it's not that kind of favor." I replied. "You see Oliver had this room installed in the club and I want to access it, but it's pass-locked. The security company that installed it is no longer in business. I was wondering if you knew anybody from Queen Consolidated who might be able to help me with it."

"There is one person that might be able to help you." Walter replied as he took out something to write on. He gave it to me with a name and address on it.

"Felicity Smoak?" I asked.

"She is the head of the IT department at Queen Consolidated and one of the most computer savvy people that I've ever met." He gushed. Praising the employees, that's also a good quality. I should take note of that. I probably don't have any employees that are irreplaceable at the moment, including Roy (from a work standout, not a relationship standpoint), but if I get one, I'll need to make sure to let them stay as long as they want to. "So how's your mother?"

"I haven't seen her." I responded.

"Maybe you should." He suggested.

"Did she not have you kidnapped?" I asked. "Without the vigilante who knows where you'd be right now."

"Yes, I suppose that is true." He agreed. "It seems the city has a new vigilante."

"Yeah, but this one doesn't seem too keen on killing one." I commented. "But Red Riding Hood is a stupid name. Anyway, I should probably go see if I can pay Ms. Smoak a visit. Thank you for the help. I hope to see you again sometime really soon."

I drove out to the apartment complex where Felicity Smoak lived. I walked down the hall and knocked on the door.

"Steve, I told you, I'd have the rent in a few days." A woman said from inside. I knocked again and the door opened, revealing a blonde woman wearing glasses. "You're not Steve. You're…"

"Thea Queen." I replied. "How much is your rent?"

"$834." She answered before I took out my checkbook and wrote one for said amount. "Why are you doing this? Not that I mind because I do appreciate it…sorry I've been known to ramble at times."

"I have a job for you." I stated. "I don't know if you know, but I have taken over my brother's club in his absence. The thing is there's a basement that's pass-locked and I'd like to use it. Walter thinks that you'd be able to find out the code so I can get in."

"Let me get changed." Felicity remarked, since she was wearing pajama pants.

After a few minutes, she came out fully dressed.

"So, I'm sorry that my mom forced you into this layoff." I apologized. "I can't run the company, but I hope you get back to work soon."

The two of us went to the club together. It was then that I realized that I had a beer shipment that I needed to sign for. I went to beer man and signed his clipboard.

"I was thinking about using this for a little extra storage." I told Felicity. She looked a little bit nervous.

"So I think somewhere to start would be an important date." Felicity replied. "Maybe try a birthday."

"I don't think Oliver would be dumb enough to do his birthday which anyone could look up on the internet." I replied as put it in and was denied. I decided to think. I put in my birthday and then Laurel's before I decided to try something. I typed in 91012 and the door opened.

"How did you figure that out?" Felicity asked me in surprise.

"That was the day that he came back from the island." I answered. "It's a day that I'll always remember. It was the day that I got him back. I would say that it's been the most important day of my life so far."

"Wow that was beautiful." Felicity said as she wiped a tear from her eye. I looked at her and we walked into the room. It was empty.

"I guess he cleaned out whatever he had down here before he left." She remarked.

"You should come to the club sometime." I suggested. "I'll make sure to give you a free drink."

"I'm not really a club kind of girl." She responded.

I reached into my purse and pulled out a business card. There probably weren't too many 18-year-olds who have their own business cards.

"Well if you need anything, just give me a call." I suggested. "I wish I could do this for all of the company's employees, but I don't really have the time to locate all of them right now."

"Thanks and I look forward to talking to you again soon…for work, definitely for work. Maybe I should put something in my mouth so I stop talking." Felicity declared. I giggled a little. "I'm just gonna go."

I couldn't help but feel like this woman would be interesting to be around.

I then went to my car to get the boxes. It would be much easier to keep my costume and my bow here than in my car. I would have to figure out a way to get out though. I couldn't help but wonder if Tommy ever knew what Ollie used this room for. I hope he comes back soon.

After I was done storing the room up, I decided to keep the password the same. I was going to do some shopping before I had I do be at work. As I was driving, a body suddenly flew from the sky and onto my head. I stopped suddenly, luckily not getting hit and got out of the car. I noticed that the man seemed to be conscious, but he was bleeding heavily.

"Who did this to you?" I asked.

"Wolf…" The man declared before passing out. I looked through his pockets as I called 911. It turned out that he was a detective.

I had to wait for the police and the ambulance to arrive. Traffic had stopped. I didn't get to do any shopping, but I still had some time. While I was waiting, I decided to look for anyone with the last name Wolf in Starling City. I found four results. One was a man in his late 70s, one was a baker, one was a pitcher, and the other died in the quake. I don't think any of them did it. Maybe Wolf was a codename. It sounded cooler than Red Riding Hood.

I decided that I should have more than one costume. I don't know if I would always be able to get into the club and I needed to be prepared. Of course, I only had one bow, so maybe having an extra costume won't do much good.

The following night, I went to work and met up with Roy. I felt like having getting laid before work tonight because it would put me in a good mood. It definitely did. Once I was dressed, I went downstairs to see that the TV was on.

"We're receiving some footage from the Starling Police Department where a hostage situation has unfolded." The reporter said before the program cut to the footage. It showed a man wearing a wolf mask. I guess that was Wolf.

"I'm the Big Bad Wolf and as you may have guessed, I'm looking for the one that they call Red Riding Hood." He replied. Big Bad Wolf wasn't as cool. I can't believe that I had my villain specifically catered to me and he was only using that name because the cops labeled me. "I've taken the police captive and I'm going to give her thirty minutes before I blow this place to the ground."

Okay, I think he was mixing up his Big Bad Wolves, because that was the one from the 3 Little Pigs.

Roy came downstairs and looked at the TV. I had to say that this guy was smart. He was at the police station because he was planning on me being captured by the police even if I manage to defeat him. I have to make sure to plan my escape.

I began to head toward the basement.

"What are you doing?" Roy asked.

"I'm going to call Laurel to see if her dad is at the station." I responded. "It's too hard to hear in here because of the music. I had discovered that there was a way out down there. That was convenient. Once I was downstairs, I quickly changed into my costume and grabbed my bow before I began to head to the police station.

I couldn't help but wonder how this Big Bad had managed to get around the several armed cops. They should have been able to take him down.

I ended up finding an open window and shot an arrow before I entered the station. It was then that I came face to face with the wolf.

"What an ugly face you have." I stated.

"It's the better to eat you with." He responded. Now I was tired of playing this game.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"I'm just someone that isn't afraid of a girl in a hood." He replied. "You know I could just blow this place up right now, but I think I'd rather see what you've got. You might not want to shoot me though. I'm prepared to detonate upon impact."

I guess that explained why the cops didn't shoot him. I looked over his body. If I shot in the wrong place, I would probably be blown up.

"So what are you a combination of the two big bad wolves?" I asked. "I don't see anyone wearing pig outfits coming here."

"I like to think of myself as a composite character." The wolf declared. "By the way, the timer is still running."

I looked around the room for anything that I could possibly use to do this. I decided that I would try something. It would take a perfect shot. I fired at the bookshelf behind him. As the arrow flew by, he turned around and looked at it.

"You missed." He declared.

"No I didn't." I countered, having running over and hit him the head with my bow. That caused him to fall to the ground unconscious. At that point, I went and grabbed the bomb off of him as I noticed that people were running up the stairs. This was where I needed to escape and I think I found my diversion. I put the bomb on the floor and headed out the window, shooting my arrow. The landing still kind of hurt. I would need to work on that.

I managed to get back to the club without being watched. I headed in and changed back into my clothes.

"What took so long?" Roy asked when finally came out.

"I was installing my new desktop for down there." I explained. "Microsoft Office is such a pain when you install it manually. I also think I might need to improve the internet connection in this place. I'll have to call that girl from the IT department about that.

I would need to start thinking of better excuses for my disappearing because I don't want Roy to be able to figure this out.

A few weeks passed and I hadn't had to deal with too many problems. I handled a few thugs, but nothing big really came up. I entered the club to find Roy.

"So what do you think the vigilante would think about this new girl being on his turf?" He asked.

"The vigilante hasn't been seen since the quake, which means that he was probably buried in the rubble." I declared. "He's never coming back."

"I'm back." Ollie declared as he walked in.

So Walter and Felicity were in this chapter, and also Oliver at the very end. I realized the Red Riding Hood comparison and decided it would be a nice nickname for her, but Thea obviously hates it. And the villain was inspired by her name. Next chapter Red and Arrow are going to clash. Please don't forget to review.


	4. Breaking and Entering

"Ollie!" I said as I hugged him. "You remember my friend Roy."

"Still here?" Ollie asked.

"Always." Roy answered before he went out to receive the shipment of napkins.

"How was Europe? You never called. It's like you were on the island all over again." I replied.

"Yeah, sorry, I was kind of distracted. I was busy waterskiing." He responded. "So I heard that there's someone new that's supposedly protecting the city right now."

"Yeah, it's some bitch that thinks that she can make a difference." I remarked. I think that saying that I don't like my alter ego is a good way to get attention off of me. "They call her Red Riding Hood. The only positive thing I've heard is she doesn't kill anyone."

"Right." He responded. "I've heard rumors that my club is under new management."

"It's my club now and no, you cannot have it back, including that secret underground office." I explained.

"You're not old enough to drink." He pointed out.

"I'm old to sell alcohol." I pointed out.

"Have you made it to Iron Heights?" Ollie asked as I went through some of my files.

"To visit the woman who dropped a city on 503 innocent people? No, I haven't." I answered proudly. I didn't owe her anything.

"Thea…" He said disapprovingly. "That's not what Mom did."

"Right because Malcolm forced her to do it." I quipped. "But she did have a choice. She could have come forward long before it happened, and I am choosing not to be her daughter, but I am so happy that your home. I have to deal with the liquor distributor and I have a meeting that starts…"

"I'm here for the interview." A girl with curly brown eyes interrupted. She was wearing a blue sleeveless top and a blue and pink skirt. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"Now." I stated. I looked at her. She was a few years older than me. According to my book, she was Gabrielle Clark, a recent graduate from Starling U. "Go upstairs to the office and I'll be with you in a minute."

"It's nice seeing you like this." He noted as she went upstairs.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Together." He declared. "I'll leave you to your interview."

I went upstairs to see that Gabrielle was sitting down.

"Okay, first thing's first, is it Gabrielle or Gabby?" I asked. She looked kind of nervous. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I was younger than her.

"Gabrielle." She answered. "But, you can call me Gabby if you want."

"Okay, Gabby, have you ever managed anything before? Do you know have to run a bar, wait tables?" I asked.

"Miss Queen, if you look at my resume…" She started.

"I've looked at your resume." I cut her off. "Those are just words on a piece of paper. I want to hear your answers."

"Yes, I'm managed, waited and worked the bar at Red Lobster while I was in college." Gabby answered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Who said anything about me being upset?" I asked. "Now I would imagine that you know about my past, but that's what it is, my past. I don't do any of that anymore. There are no drugs allowed in the club and pretty much anyone who says that they knew me from school is not allowed in the club because they are not 21. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am." She answered.

"Don't call me, Ma'am." I told her. "So you're the only one that applied for the job. Why is that? Weren't you scared by the girl whose mother killed more than five hundred people?"

"To be honest, Miss Queen, I'm not." She answered. "I think this is a great opportunity. I'm not in any position to be picky with the loans that I have to pay back. Above all though, I like to get to know someone before I judge them."

"Gabrielle Clark, you are officially Verdant's new manager." I told her as I held my hand out. "You start tonight. I have a bartender who called in sick and I need someone to fill in, and one more thing. Don't call me Miss Queen. Please call me Thea."

"Tonight?" Gabby asked in surprise. "What am I supposed to wear?"

"Something less formal than that." I answered. "I'll be here to help you. I also have a general question to ask you. Your opinion will affect your employment."

"Okay." She agreed as she waited for me to ask.

"What do you think of the vigilante?" I asked.

"Do you mean the green one or the red one?" She clarified.

"Either one." I replied.

"Well I think that both of them have been great for this city." Gabby admitted as she brushed some hair out of her eyes. I waited for her explanation. "I also really like the Red Riding Hood one. I think a female hero who doesn't kill anyone is a great role model. Is there anything else?"

"Yes, one of the waiters, Roy Harper, you may know him from when that Savior guy kidnapped him earlier in the year. He's my boyfriend. He has a history of fighting and I want you to keep an eye on him." I explained. "You can leave now."

"Thank you for the job, Thea." Gabby declared. "I won't let you down."

I watched as she walked out. She actually seems like someone that I wouldn't mind being friends with.

I knew that I should probably schedule a dinner with Ollie sometime soon. From what it sounded like, he was possibly going to take over Queen Consolidated. I don't know if that was going to be a good thing because running an international business isn't the same as running a nightclub. Plus I had to do my share of work rescuing this place, so I'm not sure how good he was at that, but I guess he's probably better for it than the woman who shall not be named.

I went out to the Roy to see if the shipment went well. I was not going to let them think that they could push me around. I wasn't going to go attack them for selling me inferior products, but I had other ways of getting them to do what I wanted. I know that in the business world, you don't get by being nice to people. I mean being nice to employees is generally a good idea, but if you want someone else to listen to you, you have to raise your voice sometimes.

"So does everything look good?" I asked him. He was holding a box.

"Yeah, it looks like everything is here." Roy answered.

"Well make sure not to get anymore more bruises on your way in." I told him. Some might say that it's hypocritical that I don't want him to fight. It's not. Roy is trying to win fights using only his fists. That doesn't work, especially if you're taking on more than one person. Not to mention, he's going after every petty criminal that I don't have time to take on. Crime's not like a tree where you can take down it down from the bottom.

After I was done with the delivery, I went downstairs into my office. I figured that I should check out the newspaper and online to see if it had any information on developing crimes. There really wasn't a lot being reported at the moment. There was a string of break-ins that might be worth looking into. Nobody was hurt in any of them, because it seemed like nobody was doing much to solve it. There had been 15 in the last 9 days. It was mostly apartments, and it was all localized to two complexes. There was definitely a pattern that I needed to look into there.

That night, I was at the club. I watched as Gabby came in, about 5 minutes late.

"Sorry, I'm late." She apologized. "I had to go back and make sure that my apartment was locked."

"Do you live in one of those complexes with all of the burglaries?" I asked as she put on an apron.

"Yeah, I don't know if it's going to do any good since the crooks might be able to pick the lock, but I have some stuff in there that I don't want stolen." She explained.

"So how much do you owe on loans?" I asked.

"It's about 15000." She answered.

"Well if you do a good job, I'll make sure to pay off a third of that." I promised.

"You will?" She asked, completely stunned.

"I like to take care of my employees." I told her. "Five grand is a like a parking ticket to me. You'd probably have it paid off by the end of a year if you stay here that long. Now I need you to make sure that everything is stocked. I'm about to let people in."

That night around midnight when I was getting ready to close up, I turned on the TV. The news was playing.

"Police are saying that the vigilante known as the Hood was seen tonight for the first time since the Glades incident in May, ending the belief that he was killed." The anchor replied. He was also spotted outside of one of the buildings, but no one was found dead or alive, so whoever it was must have gotten away. I can't believe that he was back. I wasn't just going to let him reclaim my turf. I would have to find him and talk to him.

In the morning, I woke up and found that Diggle quit. I guess it involved something with Oliver. He and Diggle really were close and he was resuming whatever they had. I would have to talk to Gabby about helping me find a new bouncer tonight. I decided that before I headed into the office, I was going to hit the pool. It would be getting colder soon and I wouldn't be able to use it very much longer. After swimming a few laps, I noticed Ollie by the edge.

"I guess even a determined business woman needs to relax every now and then." He cracked.

"Swimming is a great way to stay in shape." I explained. It was one of the many ways.

"Thea, the last thing that you need to worry about is your figure." My brother told me.

"Speaking of business, I hear that you're taking over." I remarked as I got out of the water.

"Well as long as I don't end up losing it. I own 45 percent and I can't buy any more shares." He explained. That had to be something that we could do. We couldn't lose the family business.

"Walter." I realized. "You should talk to Walter about buying the rest and giving them to you."

"Have you talked to him recently?" He asked.

"I had lunch with him last week." I explained. "He's someone that I know that I can count on. He's a good man."

"You need to see her." He repeated.

"Give me one good reason." I demanded.

"She's your mother." He stated. "You don't know what went on. I wouldn't be surprised if Malcolm blackmailed her into helping by threatening to kill the two of us. Yes, 500 people may have died, but imagine what would have happened if she hadn't made her announcement. That number could have been a lot higher."

I guess he had a point there. I wouldn't have been able to save Roy because I wouldn't have known and maybe Laurel would have died instead of Tommy. I never once considered how many lives Mom saved. Maybe I could see her, but I had something that I needed to figure out first. It turned out that the building that the vigilante was seen on was the one that Gabby didn't live in. I decided to look into the situation and I happened to notice that both buildings were owned by a man named Anthony Thomas. Thomas happened to be Malcolm's CFO. I think I needed to consider him as a suspect.

I once again had some time before the club was opened. I suited up and grabbed my bow and decided to see if I could catch the burglars in the act. I headed to the top of the building and found that I wasn't alone. I shot my bow in the direction and happened to find myself face-to-face (or hood-to-hood) with the vigilante. He had caught my arrow.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a gruff voice. It sounded fake.

"I could ask you the same thing." I responded, altering my own voice, so he wouldn't be able to tell who I was. "You went away and I decided that this city needed a hero. I guess that you were never dead. I don't need your help and I want you off of my turf. Go back to wherever you went. You abandoned this city. You can't just come back and expect everyone to accept you back. Things have changed now. You can't just kill whoever you want."

"I'm not looking to kill anyone." He replied.

"HELP ME!" Someone screamed. I immediately recognized the voice as Gabby's. She was in trouble. I looked over the edge and saw her hanging out a window. I had to save her and I might need some help.

"Okay, you can help me this one time, but then I'm coming for you." I replied. I jumped down and caught a glimpse of Anthony Thomas holding her. He only held her for a second because he let her go. I managed to grab her, but we were still falling.

"Who's going to save you?" Gabby asked.

"I've got it covered." I replied. "I need you to hold bow while I shoot."

She did what I said and grabbed the bow as I fired a grappling arrow and landed her successfully on the ground.

"I need you to call the police." I instructed her.

"I'm supposed to be at work tonight." She stated.

"I'm sure your boss will take what happened to you as an acceptable excuse." I stated before I headed back. I noticed that Thomas was tied up and the vigilante was gone. It looks like I saved the girl, but I lost the prize. I needed to get out of here. I knew that this wouldn't be the last meeting that I had with him, and I would unmask him.

So for starters, Gabby is played by Alexandra Chando and you're going to seeing a lot of her in the future. If you're wondering where the Arrow Cave is now that Thea has taken over, it's in the Queens' basement. Lastly Red has made it her mission to unmask Arrow. What is she going to do when she finds out that it's her brother? Please don't forget to review.


	5. Eye of the Tiger

I decided to have a private pool at the house with Roy. I waited for him to come out in his swimsuit and I happened to notice another bruise. I had to do something. Maybe I could at least use him for some sparring.

"So it looks like you're still fighting." I stated. "You want to fight someone, fight me."

"Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief. I was definitely serious. I had to prepare in case I couldn't always count on my arrows.

"Yes." I declared as I held my fists in front of my body. "First to knock the other into the pool wins."

"You're seriously serious about this." Roy commented.

"It's better than being comically serious." I replied. "I'll let you take the first swing."

He weakly and slowed punched at me. I dodged it pretty easily.

"You have to do better than that." I told him as I lightly hit him in the stomach. "They don't call me Speedy for nothing."

You know that could be a nice superhero name. If it weren't for the fact that everyone who knew me knew that nickname, I might use it. I suppose there are worse things than being called Red Riding Hood. I shouldn't even care what they're calling me.

Roy swung again and hit me, but not very hard.

"You can't be afraid to hurt me." I stated as I kicked his side, hitting one of his bruises. He grabbed it and I used the opportunity to push him into the pool. "The first rule of combat is 'Never underestimate your opponent.'."

"Where did you learn how to fight?" He asked.

"Afterschool club when I was 16." I explained. "It's pretty basic, but I did more than just popping pills. So there's something that I never asked you. What's your goal with all of this fighting?"

"I want to save the city." Roy answered as he got out of the water.

"What does that mean?" I countered. "You have some vague answer. You do know how stupid it is to go after everyone. Some of them have guns, Roy, guns and knives. You're going to end up against someone that you can't beat and you'll either end in the hospital or a coffin. Also you can't be afraid to fight a girl. What would you do if you came Red Riding Hood? Would you swing weakly at her too?"

"She has arrows." Roy pointed out. "I'd probably be screwed."

"Maybe you should avoid fighting people then." I suggested. "Leave the fighting to the professionals…and the idiots who try to go around in costumes and stop crimes."

Okay, I'm pretty going as putting myself down.

"You know I just remembered that I need to go somewhere." I stated. I think I was going to do it. I needed to talk to her.

"Are you serious?" He asked. "You didn't even get in the pool."

"I'm going to see my mom for the first time in months." I stated. "The pool will be here when I get back."

I went and got dressed before heading to the prison. I had to go through security to make sure I wasn't going to give her anything to help her break out. I wasn't interested in that at this point, but I did need to talk to her.

"Thea." She said in surprise before came and gave me a hug. "I didn't think that you wanted to see me."

"I didn't." I admitted.

"What changed your mind?" She asked.

"Ollie's back. Maybe he was already here. Anyway, he said something that I never considered." I told her. "Your press conference saved who knows know how many lives. I know you didn't stop it, but did something."

"Did you save your boyfriend?" She asked me. I can't believe that she remembered the last thing that I had said to her.

"Yes." I answered. "I'm running Oliver's club now and he's going to take over the company."

At that point, my phone began to ring.

"That's my manager." I remarked. I sent a text to Gabby to tell her that I would call her back or see her later. "I'm not leaving yet though."

"You know I'm still going to be here." She pointed out.

"I think you need to try to fight this." I told her as I grabbed her hand.

"Thea, I don't think that the judge is going to care about the people who were saved." She declared. "With Malcolm dead, they want to make someone pay and I am guilty by association. I helped Malcolm and I'm willing to pay the consequences."

"I promise that I'll be back." I told her. "Just please don't give up."

Once I was outside, I couldn't help but notice that there was a group of protestors outside of the prison. They were not from the Westboro Baptist church. They tried to come here after the quake, but the police blocked them with some help from the people who I think we were in the Russian mob. You know those are people who need arrows in them.

I then went to the club to see what Gabby needed to talk about.

I met up in my office.

"Thank you." She said to me.

"For letting you miss work because you were almost killed?" I asked.

"For saving me." She responded.

"I'm not following what you're saying here." I replied, nervously. How had she found out?

"When I came in my interview, I couldn't help but notice the fragrance that you were wearing." Gabby noted. "The other night, Red Riding Hood was wearing the same fragrance."

Okay, I need to stop wearing perfume to mask the smell of sweat.

"You can't tell anyone." I told her. "You don't know how dangerous you are."

"I'm not going to tell anyone." Gabby responded. "I actually wanted to see if you needed any help."

"Gabby, this is dangerous." I explained. "I spent months training to get ready for this."

"That doesn't sound like very long." She remarked.

"I haven't had a lot of time." I stated. "The point is if you want to help me, you can manage my club."

"I think that should really consider changing your name." She noted. "You should go by just Red."

Okay, that wasn't a bad idea.

"I'm not going to let you help me." I declared. "Also don't think that you can blackmail me either."

"I would never do that, Thea." Gabby argued. "Okay, although I don't understand why you don't want my help, I'm not going to push it. I just thought that what you're doing would be easier if you weren't doing it alone. There's just one thing that I want to ask you."

"No, I'm not going to kill anyone." I replied.

"I actually wanted to ask if you know who the Hood is." She stated.

"No." I answered. "I want to beat him so I can unmask him."

"I don't know if you're experienced enough to do that." She noted.

"This meeting is over." I declared. "I just want you to do what I pay you for."

"Okay, and I promise that I will keep your secret." She replied as she walked out of the office. She stood by the door for a moment. "My offer is always open."

I held my head after she left. I cannot believe that she managed to find out. I needed a distraction. I heard a knock on my door. I really hoped that it wasn't somebody else who found out my secret.

Instead, it was Roy. He seemed to be bleeding from the face. I took out the first aid kit and began to clean it with a cotton ball and some iodine.

"This is what happens when you go around picking fights with people." I told him.

"I didn't start this one." Roy replied. "Some guy tried to mug me. Don't bring up the irony. He wanted the watch you gave me."

"Well I can see that you still have the watch." I noted. "You know if I find out that you're lying, I'm going to fire you. You're lucky this first aid kit was all that we needed."

"I'd rather be here than the hospital. They don't have enough supplies." Roy remarked. "I'm pretty sure that someone has been stealing them from the FEMA trucks. They found one of the drivers dead in the road yesterday."

So now I had to find out who was stealing from the FEMA trucks. It seemed like who it was meant business. I imagine that I won't be the only one who's trying to stop these guys. This would be a great place for me to find the vigilante. You know maybe I shouldn't call him the vigilante anymore since that can also apply to me. I could call him the Hood, no also me, the Arrow, no. I'm just going to call him the green guy until I can come up with something better.

I went downstairs to see Ollie was there.

"I saw Mom today." I told him. That had to be the best thing that happened today. I noticed the look on his face. "You need something, don't you?"

"It's about the room downstairs. Did you find any of my stuff down there?" He asked.

"It was empty when I cracked the code." I explained. "Someone else might have cleared it out if you didn't. So what's it like running the family business?"

"It's not as difficult as I thought it would be." He admitted. I wasn't even entirely sure where we got our money from these days.

"Just be glad that we're not selling guns anymore." I declared. I did know that.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I've just had a bit of a rough day." I admitted. "I just don't want to have to deal with any more surprises today."

"How about we go to Big Belly Burger and get something to eat?" He suggested. "Everybody needs a break from work and it'll give us a chance to talk."

"Sure." I agreed. I walked over to Gabby who was currently cleaning off the bar. I tapped her and she smiled at me, probably hoping that I would accept her offer. "I'm going out to dinner. If I'm not back by opening, you're in charge."

We went into the restaurant which was still standing. I guess it was worse in some parts of the Glades than others.

"So what we were you doing in Europe?" I asked him. "Were you trying to make it with every lady that you possibly could?"

"You know that I don't do that anymore." He replied.

"Well there's this cute girl that works IT at the company that you should check out." I suggested. I don't know why, but I think Ollie and Felicity would look really cute together.

"Felicity?" He asked.

"You know her." I remarked. That would make things easier.

"She's my secretary." He answered. I smirked. "There's none of that involved."

"Well maybe it should." I asked. "Who else are you gonna date? Laurel? You're 28 years old, Bro. Maybe you should start thinking about the future."

"Did you and Mom swap bodies?" He joked. "I'm just not looking for romance right now."

We probably spent around an hour there, talking about nothing in particular. It was fun. I also realized that I needed to see if there was a way to see when the next FEMA was going to be here. I might have to guess. It might be nice to have someone that could help with that, but I don't know if Gabby could get access to that kind of information.

"So I don't need you to escort me back to the club." I told him. "I have it under control."

"Thea, there are people in the Glades who want revenge on us for what Mom and Malcolm did." He pointed out. I sighed. I wanted to see if I could find these people that were stealing the FEMA trucks and I couldn't do that with my brother draped over my shoulders. Okay, I'm glad that I didn't say that sentence aloud.

"I know what to do." I told him. "I'll see you at home after I close."

Once I was free of him, I went to the club through the secret entrance I found. I suited up and went to look despite having no idea what I was doing. For the first time, I had no idea what I was doing, but this is what being a hero is about. This is not what I thought it would be about.

By sheer luck, I happened to see a FEMA truck driving down the road. I also noticed a blonde woman in the road. I prepared to shoot at her, before I noticed a wearing metal claws coming in my direction. I turned my bow and shot at him, only for him to block with his claws.

"Well I was hoping for someone else." He stated. "I shot another bow, only for it to be blocked again. I shot my net bow at him and he sliced through it. Well this isn't good. "You know you're not the hood I was look for."

"Why are you stealing from the FEMA trucks?" I asked him.

"I personally want nothing from them." He declared as he toward me, and knocked my bow to the ground. "I was hired to kill the Hood. I think you'd be more useful to me alive. I want you to send a message to him. Tell him that Bronze Tiger is looking for him."

He then his claws and slashed me across the waist. It wasn't a deep wound, but it really hurt. I would need to do something about it.

"Now I suggest you run before I change my mind." Bronze Tiger declared. Not having a better option, I ran, clutching my side. I would need some help with this. I couldn't go to the hospital. There was only one person that I could ask. I texted her the code and told her to bring the first aid kit down with her. I went in through the entrance and found her down there. I lifted my hoodie up to show the wound.

"What happened?" Gabby asked me as she looked at the wound.

"I found the people that were stealing from FEMA, but I also ran into a guy named Bronze Tiger." I explained. "He had this met claws like Wolverine only they were gloves."

"So does this mean that you're accepting my offer?" Gabby asked as she took out one of the bandages and some iodine.

"I don't even know you can help." I told her.

"Well I did minor in computer applications." She stated. After the bandages were in place, she went to my laptop. "It says here that Bronze Tiger is supposedly a member of this group of assassins called the Suicide Squad. His real name is Ben Turner and he is a convicted felon."

"How am I supposed to defeat him?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure that a frontal assault is not going to work."

"I'm really not much of a fighter." She admitted. "I've taken self-defense classes, but I don't know how to help you."

"Well we have to find out how to stop this guy." I declared. "I don't know what this means, but welcome to Team Red."

Red had her first loss. She's going to have to figure out how to beat Bronze Tiger. Also Gabby figured out on her own that Thea was Red. I think her unwillingness to accept help fits into Thea's personality better. She also didn't have Oliver's experience on the island and doesn't know the value of teamwork. Please don't forget to review.


	6. Catch a Tiger by the Tail

The next day, I had Gabby over at the house. I couldn't really discuss Red stuff with her in the morning at work.

"So do you have any idea how I'm going to defeat Bronze Tiger?" I asked.

"No." She admitted.

"You're not very good at this." I commented.

"Well I don't know how to deal with bad guys." She mentioned. "I really think that maybe you should try to find his weakness."

"Well I can tell that frontal assault is not his weakness." I declared. At that time, I heard someone walking toward the door. It opened and there was Ollie.

"Do you remember Gabby?" I asked him.

"You're the girl from the job interview." He remarked.

"Shouldn't you be at the office?" I questioned.

"I needed to come home and pick something up and I wanted to make sure that you were okay." He answered.

"Yeah, we were just going over some business ideas." I lied. I needed him to go away right now. "As you can see I'm not fucking Roy."

He then left the room. I probably shouldn't have been such a bitch to him, but I had a double life that I needed to protect.

"So why haven't you told Roy?" Gabby asked me.

"Because Roy has a very reckless personality and he would also call me a hypocrite for telling him not to be a hero." I explained. "You promised that you would keep this a secret. So do you know if there's any way you can find out when the next FEMA truck is going to show up?"

"It's not exactly something that they post online." She told me as she took out her laptop and checked the FEMA website. "Okay, they actually say that. They are making it too easy for them to be robbed. Anyway, there's supposed to be another truck at 10:00 tonight."

"Well then I need to make sure to be there and I need to find a way to defeat Bronze Tiger before then." I responded. "Ben Turner isn't listed online is here?"

"Well he doesn't have a Facebook and there are six Ben Turners in Starling City alone, if he's even living here." Gabby told me. I then heard her stomach grumble. "Is it okay for me to check out your fridge?"

"I don't have much in there since I work most nights." I admitted. "There's a pizza, but if you don't like meat, you're out of luck."

"I'm guessing that you mean Meat Lovers', which is my favorite kind." She stated. "You know you don't seem like you have many friends. Didn't you have friends from school?"

"My friends were a bad influence on me and helped fuel my bad habits." I stated. "They were the ones who gave me the vertigo before the crash and I deleted them from my life. I have new friends now. Sure, they're mostly older, but they're better friends. That reminds me, I need to see a friend right now. I want you to come with me."

We went to the cemetery and I stood in front of his tombstone.

"Why do I need to be here?" Gabby asked.

"I need you to make sure no one else is around." I explained. "The dead can keep secrets, but there are things that I don't want the living to know. So is anyone else here?"

"No." She answered.

"Okay." I remarked. "Hey, Tommy. It's me again. I know I haven't been here in a while. I don't know if Ollie or Laurel have been recently. I'm trying to fix the damage that our parents did. It's been pretty easy until recently. I found someone that actually was able to beat me. I'm not going to give up. I want to make you proud. I really hope that you're in a better place."

"It seems like you two were really close." Gabby stated as I wiped a tear.

"He was like a brother to me." I told her. "He was like my brother when I thought Ollie was dead. I also always loved him."

I then noticed my phone was ringing. It was Roy. I let it ring for a second before answering.

"Hey." I answered. "What are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" He reciprocated. "I went to your house and you weren't there."

"I'm at Tommy's grave." I explained. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch." He stated. I guess I could since only Gabby ate.

I gave Gabby the keys.

"Take this to my house and pick up your car." I instructed.

Not long after Gabby left was Roy there. I hoped that he got this car legally. I know that he had been saving up and I hope he used the money that I was paying him.

"Please tell this car is yours." I declared.

"It is now." He responded with a smile. I glared at him. "Because I bought it. I don't steal cars anymore."

"I just wanted to make sure." I replied. "So where are we going because I know a great hot dog cart."

"I stole your purse by that hot dog cart." He pointed out.

"It's not the traditional way couples meet, but we met and that's what matters." I said before giving him a random kiss. "Let's go."

We drove to the hot dog stand. I wanted a chili dog. I didn't have a problem with getting my hands dirty, metaphorically or literally.

After we were done eating, he pulled me close, inadvertently touching the spot where Bronze Tiger had scratched me. I winced in pain.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I just fell over at work." I replied. "Remind me to get you next time that I try to do some heavy lifting."

He grabbed the bottom of my top. I pushed his hand away.

"You can't see it right now." I scolded him. "Maybe I will show it to you later, but not while we are in public."

"You should be more careful." Roy stated. I definitely was going to be. I wasn't going to let him get a shot at me again.

From there we headed to the club. I needed to come up with a plan for tonight. I wonder since I could find out when the shipment is, maybe the green guy could as well. Maybe I should count on him being there. I guess I wouldn't mind his help to stop the crooks. I mean after we take them down, I'm still going to find out who he is, but I may need an adversary.

"Thea, I need to see you in your office." Gabby told me as soon as I walked in. I walked away from Roy and behind the closed door. "I did some digging on Bronze Tiger. I wasn't able to find his home address, but I did find out from a prison report that he's allergic to peanuts."

"So what does that have to do with anything?" I asked.

"I was thinking that you could dip your arrows in peanut extract, that was hitting him could send him into anaphylactic shock." Gabby explained. It would be a good plan except for one thing.

"I'm not looking to kill him." I pointed out. "For this plan to work someone would have to be able to get him to the hospital before dies…and I'd also have to hit him, which I wasn't very good at the first time."

"There has to be some way that we can catch this tiger by the tail." Gabby mused.

"Shooting him in the tail might work." I replied. "I would have to see him before he sees me though."

"Or you could do something athletic." She proposed. "You have to do whatever you can to avoid getting hit. I don't suppose that you ever took gymnastics."

"No, but I have very minor experience in ballet." I admitted. "All I know is a plié and pique. It's probably not going to help me."

"You never know when some obscure skill that you have is going to come in handy." Gabby reminded me. "I mean I had a brother that taught me how to hack when I was 16. Until now, I never used it."

"You didn't mention that you had a brother." I pointed out.

"That's because he was sentenced to federal prison for trying to hack into the white house and killed there." She explained.

At that time, there was a knock at the door. It was Roy.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but the truck is here." He replied.

"I should go sign off on that." Gabby replied as she wiped her eyes and left the office.

"So what were you talking about?" He questioned.

"We were discussing marketing strategies and promotions." I replied quickly. "Like for example, I have something planned for St. Patrick's Day. Anyone wearing green gets a free drink."

"Maybe the vigilante will show up." Roy quipped before the two of us left my office.

"I think it's time for you to go help with that shipment." I declared. "We can't have me hurting myself again."

I decided to go downstairs and look over my weapons. There had to be something useful that I hadn't thought of. I know that he has to have something that I haven't tried yet. The net arrow didn't work and I had to get a new net. The regular arrows didn't work either and I can't do hand to hand combat when I have a guy with unfair hands. I have to be smart to stop him.

The club was running the same as other nights. Maybe I could use some promotions to increase business. I mean it wasn't bad, but more business is always good. I wonder if I can get The Pretty Reckless to play for me. I might have to pay more than they usually get. Still it would be awesome for them to play a show here. I need to see if I can get a hold of them.

But the more important thing right now is stopping Bronze Tiger. I can worry about dad job later, okay so it's my night job, but I can worry about it later.

I took Gabby downstairs a little before 10:00 to sort everything out.

"So they're taking a different route tonight to try not to be intercepted." Gabby stated. "But since we know, Bronze Tiger and that blonde woman probably know too."

"Hopefully I can get there in time to save everyone from being killed tonight. I can't imagine that FEMA will keep sending people out here if they keep getting killed." I replied as I began to get dressed. "You know I was resistant to your help at first, but I don't think I'm going to be able to do this alone."

I then went out looking for them. I guess Bronze Tiger was my top priority. I guess I would have to deal with the woman afterwards. You know I haven't considered something. What if the cops are also going to following the trucks? It wouldn't hurt to have some police escorts. I don't know if they would be able to do anything, but they would probably want to be involved. You would think that I would be in good standing with the police after I saved their asses at the station, but apparently that doesn't help.

I headed to the scene and sure enough there was a police escort. I could see that the truck had stopped. I also noticed that the police officer in charge of the escort was Laurel's dad. I saw him shooting at Bronze Tiger, but he blocked the bullets with his claws. Though, if he was focusing on that, he wouldn't see me coming. I shot at his leg. It managed to hit him, but he turned and looked at me. I then noticed that blonde woman had a knife, but before she could throw it another arrow flew by her.

Bronze Tiger came at me after taking the arrow out. I guess he had a high tolerance for pain.

"I was going to let you live, but now I guess I'll have to kill you." He stated.

"I don't think that you should be so sure about that." I told him. I was pretty sure that I knew what to do. I first dodged his swipe by going to the ground and then I fired at his legs again, this time with my grappling arrow, tying his feet together. He fell to the ground immediately.

"You think this will hold me, Bitch?" He asked.

"No." I answered before I kicked him in the head. "But this will."

I then pulled off his gloves and threw them in the other direction. I then realized that I probably should have kept them. I noticed that the green guy had pinned the blonde to the truck. I began to run after him. I wasn't going to let him get away this time. I called Gabby.

"I found the Green Arrow." I told her as I ran. "I beat Bronze Tiger. I'm going to find him and unmask him."

"Are you sure that it's a good idea?" She asked me.

"No, but it's what I'm going to do." I told her before I hung up.

I ended up finding on a rooftop.

"So we meet again." I told him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." I responded. "My friends call me Red."

"I don't want to hurt you." He replied.

"Well that makes one of us." I challenged as I fired an arrow at him. He managed to dodge it and fired at me. I decided to try something and went down to a plié and it worked. I guess having random skills is useful. I grabbed one of my tranquilizers and fired at him. Luckily, I managed to hit him. He then fell unconscious. I wasn't expecting to actually win. "Now let's see who you are."

I went over to him and removed his hood. I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe it.

"Ollie." I stated. I didn't know what to do now.

"I think you need to let him go." A blonde woman wearing a mask and a leather outfit interrupted. I knew that voice. I knew that voice anywhere, but there was no way that it was possible.

"You can't be here. You're dead." I told her. My surprise prevented me from changing my voice.

"I guess I'm not, Thea." She replied. I can't believe that she knew who I was.

"How are you here, Sara?" I asked as I heard police sirens.

So not only did she find out that her brother was Arrow, she also found out that Sara was alive. She also beat Bronze Tiger. I know FEMA probably wouldn't put that stuff on their website, but just pretend that they would. And there may be a Pretty Reckless cameo in the future. Please don't forget to review.


	7. Intensity

"I can't explain right now." Sara declared before picked Ollie up. "I need to take your brother and we need to get out of here. Don't follow me and don't tell my family that I'm alive."

I nodded and jumped off the building. This was going to be more difficult since I used my grappling arrow to tie up Bronze Tiger. I headed to the streets as I tried to evade the police. I managed to see an occurring rape while I ran and stopped briefly to use my net arrow.

"Stay behind and wait for the police." I told the girl as I continued to run. I managed to get back to the club without being caught and went inside. I found Gabby was downstairs.

"I saw that you managed to capture Bronze Tiger on the news." She said.

"That was only the start of my night." I explained. "I also beat the Hood and found out that he was my brother and then I found that someone that I thought was dead was alive and I also thwarted a rape in progress."

"Who's the person that you thought was dead?" She asked.

"Her name is Sara Lance." I answered. "She was on the boat with my brother, but everyone thought that she was lost at sea. We were kind of friends even though she's 8 years older than me. She would babysit me sometimes."

"So it sounds like you would be itching to get into bed." Gabby commented.

"I probably will as soon as the adrenaline rush goes away." I said. "I don't know what I'm going to say to Ollie now that I know who he is. I asked him about a year ago and he lied to me. He lied straight to my face saying that he wasn't doing this. If you can't trust your family, who can you trust?"

"Your friends." Gabby replied. "I'm not going to tell anyone any of this."

I went upstairs and found that Roy was there. As I walked up the stairs, I could feel the adrenaline wearing off.

"Hi Roy." I yawned.

"What have you been doing all night?" He asked me.

"I've been figuring out some numbers. I haven't been getting enough sleep lately." I told him. I probably wasn't getting enough. "Can you just take me home? I'm not sure if I'll be able to drive myself."

"You need to quit working so hard." Roy declared with a laugh.

"You know what they say." I replied. "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

I ended up falling asleep on the ride home. Roy ended up carrying me to bed. I woke up in my bed as he was about to leave.

"Roy, will you stay with me tonight?" I requested.

"I don't want your brother to find me." He responded.

"We'll have clothes on…" I yawned once again. He came over to the bed and took his shoes off before he laid with me.

In the morning, I awoke with Roy's arm wrapped around me. I got out from under him and woke him up.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Whoa, your face." He replied.

"That's what happens when you're too tired to wash your makeup off." I told him. "I have to get in the shower. Please don't go anywhere."

As I watched myself, I began to wonder if I could tell Roy. I mean he was a friend and I should be able to trust him, but I also don't want him to be controlling. I think just like Ollie, he wouldn't want me to do what I do.

I also wondered if there was any way that I could find Sara again. I needed to talk to her to find out how long that she's been back and what happened to her.

After I was out of the shower, I spent a little bit of time on my back. When we were done with that, we went downstairs to get some breakfast.

Ollie was at the table. I decided that I should act natural as to not let him know I know.

"So what did you do last night?" I asked him.

"I spent a while at the office." He lied. "You?"

"Same." I replied. "I worked until I passed out. Roy ended up bringing me home."

"You shouldn't work so hard." He told me. I couldn't wonder if he knew that Sara was alive or not. Maybe I could find out.

"You know who I was thinking about lately?" I asked. "Sara Lance. I found this old doll that she gave me and I couldn't help but wonder if she managed to survive. I mean we all thought you were dead, so there's no reason that she can't be alive too."

"I guess it's possible, but that's probably not something that you want to bring up to Laurel or her father." Ollie replied. So if he did know, he was hiding it.

"I think I'm gonna go." Roy announced. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'll give her a lift to the club before I head to the office." Ollie offered. You know it was kind of hard to be mad at him like this. He was just so cool and collected. It's probably why I didn't suspect him again after that incident. Come to think of it, I wonder who the fake Green Arrow was.

"Just let me finish and I'll be ready." I told him.

After breakfast, I went to his car, which happened to have Diggle in the driver's seat.

"Hey, I was wondering where you went." I told him. I thought he would be more than just a driver.

"I wasn't aware that you two knew each other." Ollie stated.

"Diggle worked for me as a bouncer for a few weeks." I explained.

"So where to Mr. Queen?" Diggle asked.

"I need you to go to the club." Ollie told him. "Thea left her car there last night."

"As you wish, Mr. Queen." Diggle replied.

"Come on Dig, I told you to call me Oliver." My brother responded. Yeah, they were really good friends. Maybe Ollie has help and Diggle is helping him. I don't think that Diggle would be able to do it by himself. There must have been someone else. I needed to figure out who. Well I guess it wasn't that important. I mean now that I knew who he was, I could more and figuring out the bad guys in the city. I definitely need to put that at a higher priority.

Diggle dropped off and thankfully my car was not stolen or damaged. I still probably shouldn't just leave it overnight. I went inside the club. It was too early to have any employees there. I went downstairs to find Gabby was on her computer.

"Please tell me that you didn't spend the night here." I remarked.

"No, I just got here." She replied. "I've been looking some information on other cities and I couldn't help but notice that several of the neighboring cities have been experiencing blackouts even though there hasn't been any weather that would cause such a thing."

"So what are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm pretty sure that someone is stealing the power." She replied.

"Well, it's not really something that I can worry about." I responded. "I'm not saying that those other cities are not important, but I need to protect this city. If whoever is doing this comes here, I'll do something about it, but I don't have time to worry about everywhere else."

"Okay, but you might want to keep tabs on the power plant." She suggested. "I would advise against scheduling any live bands any time soon because you don't want the power to go out mid-set."

"Well Taylor Momsen isn't returning my calls anyway." I responded. "Just out of curiosity, do you have any idea who might be doing this?"

"No." She admitted.

"So do you have any ideas for what I should do at the club tonight?" I asked.

"How about a bikini contest?" She suggested. "I know a lot of clubs have them and we can say that anyone who comes wearing a bikini gets in free."

"Are you going to be wearing one?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess I could." Gabby replied. "We would need to get a judge."

"Well my brother probably would be good at such a thing, but he might be busy tonight." I mused. This would also be something that Tommy would be good at. "I have an idea."

I headed to the local radio station and decided to get them to do an ad for me. I suppose wearing a bikini would make it easier for me to change because I would have to put my costume on over it.

Later in the day, Roy came into work.

"So I have a special job for you." I told him. "I want you to judge the bikini contest that we're having tonight."

"You do?" He asked in surprise.

"I am giving free reign to ogle girls in bikinis." I explained. He looked a little excited by that. "Also I will be wearing one, but I'm not entering."

"You are officially the best boss ever." He told me.

"Yes, I am." I agreed before I gave him a kiss. "Oh and by the way, you're not going to be wear a shirt tonight, so do something about those bruises you have.''

Yeah, I had to do that. If I wasn't wearing one, neither would he.

I put out a sign saying that all patrons would be responsible for picking up their own clothes and also men who decided to come wearing bikinis would not be allowed. I hope that this wouldn't affect the sales of drinks though. I guess I can try it and decide if it should become a regular thing.

I made sure to put cover-up on my scars and bruises. I noticed that Gabby was wearing a pink bikini. Well she had gone all out for this. I was impressed. She was really hot.

"So is everything healed?" She asked me.

"Nope, I put cover-up on." I explained.

"It looks like we're going to have a lot of turn out tonight." She told me. "Also I really think that you should look into the power plant. I can hack into the security camera."

"You do that, but I need watch this for now." I replied. I saw Roy wasn't wearing his shirt. "I could watch this for a while."

"Remember to keep it classy, Boss." She teased me. I didn't even respond to that.

Just as the contest was about to start, Gabby came to get me. I went downstairs with her.

"So, I found out that someone is heading towards Starling Power Plant tonight." Gabby told me. I had started to put my costume on. "We need the lights on for business."

"I'm well aware of that." I told her as I grabbed some new arrows. "I have the check ready for the winner. Go out and give it to the girl who wins."

"What do you want me to tell Roy?" She asked.

"Tell him I needed to get something from home." I replied as I put my mask on and pulled my hood over my head. I had to go find out who was stealing power.

I headed toward the power plant. I couldn't help but notice that the guards had been taken out. I guess that wasn't anything new. Though, they didn't look dead. I went past them as I looked for whoever was stealing the power.

I ended up finding a man wearing black and white. He had dark brown hair. I shot an arrow at him, but missed. I got another arrow ready to shoot with.

"Well if it isn't Starling City's Red Riding Hood." He responded. "I suppose that you know who I am."

"First off, it's Red, and no I don't who you are." I stated. I could give him a chance to surrender first.

"My name is Doctor Light." He replied. "I assume that you're here to try to stop me from stealing the power."

"So are you going to come quietly or do I have to shoot you?" I asked. This guy seemed like a clown.

"I'd rather not have either." He told me. I then noticed a machine attached to the computer. That must have been how he was stealing the power. I readied myself to shoot when I noticed something on his hand. All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light. I had to cover my eyes and dropped my bow. Okay, now I know why they call him Dr. Light.

I noticed that the lights were starting to go out. I also noticed that Dr. Light had run away. I was thinking that he would use my temporary blindness as an opportunity to attack, but I guess not. I noticed that the machine was still there. I would have to find a way to deactivate it without harming the power grid. This was definitely not my field of expertise. I wanted to whack at it, but I realized that it was probably high voltage and stopped.

"It looks like you need some help." Ollie dressed in his costume responded.

"I don't need your help, Oliver." I told him.

"So then you know how to disarm this before the entire city loses power?" He challenged. "You know who I am, so I think it's time that you tell me who you are."

"I'd rather not and I can handle this." I repeated. "This is my city now. You're the one who left it behind when you went away."

He didn't say anything and shot some sort of electrified arrow at the machine and shorted it out.

"I could have done that." I told him.

"But you didn't." He pointed out.

"Why don't you do me a favor and go back to wherever you were hiding." I shouted. I felt kind of bad for saying this to my brother, but I couldn't let him know who I was. He didn't deserve it. He kept this secret from me for over a year. I decided to exit. It was a failed mission. Sure, the power supply wasn't compromised, but he got away. I need to have a plan for the next time that I run into Doctor Light. I called Gabby wasn't I was sure that I wasn't being followed.

"Can you tell me anything about some guy named Dr. Light?" I asked.

"His real name is Arthur Light." Gabby told me. "He's also a member of the Suicide Squad."

"Well he didn't seem particularly dangerous, just more annoying." I replied. I would probably have to find some way to cover my eyes for the next time. "I have a feeling that I haven't seen the last of him."

So the villain is Doctor Light. He's played by Adrian Pasdar and is the first recurring villain of the story. Also, there's some backstory to how Sara and Thea are familiar with each other. Thea is having a hard time believe that Ollie and Arrow are the same person and finally Diggle makes another appearance. Please don't forget to review.


	8. Gun Play

I was currently in the house in one of my dresses. Ollie was throwing a party. It was a party that he wasn't at. I had Gabby watching the club and told her not to call me unless there was a definite emergency. I couldn't help but wonder what Ollie was doing.

I decided to talk to the woman named Isabel Rochev. She was Ollie's new partner.

"So you're my brother's partner." I stated.

"Where is he?" I asked coldly. Well she was a ball of sunshine.

"I don't know." I responded. "It seems like you don't like him very much."

"He's not qualified for the job of CEO." Isabel stated.

"His name's kind of on the building." I pointed out.

"But he has no business running a corporation that he has not once even worked for." She declared. "His only business experience is running a rundown club."

"It is not rundown." I remarked in offense. I noticed that Laurel and Felicity were also at the party. I wanted to tell Laurel that her sister was alive, but I promised to keep Sara's identity a secret just like she promised to keep mine. I still wanted to talk to her.

"Hey." I greeted her.

"It's been a long time, Stranger." She told me. I smiled.

"I know, I've been pretty busy with work and I imagine that you have too." I replied.

"So, you own a business now." She stated. "Speaking of which, who's running it right now?"

"My GM is currently in charge." I responded. "I hired her for situations that I couldn't be there. How's working for the District Attorney?"

"Well it's different." She admitted. "I didn't expect to get such a big promotion. I think I'm also finally coming to grips with everything related to Tommy's death."

"I still see him every now and then." I told her. "Even then though I had a crush on him once, he was still more like a brother to me."

At that moment, Ollie walked through the door. I walked over to him and noticed that his face was bleeding.

"You know it's not acceptable for you to show up fashionably late." Isabel told him. "Is that blood on your face?"

"How do you cut yourself shaving?" Felicity asked as she took a paper towel and cleaned off his face. His beard didn't look like he shaved recently. I knew how he got hurt.

"This is why he usually has me help him." I joked. "I'm glad you're here, Ollie. You're so much better at entertaining guests than me."

That night, I heard some sounds at my window. I opened saw that Sara was outside. I opened it and she jumped inside.

"What are you doing here at 3 a.m.?" I asked her. "Also Ollie is right down the hall."

"He knows." Sara explained. "I wanted him to know."

"You didn't tell him about me, did you?" I asked.

"No, but I think it would be a lot easier if you two came clean to each other." She opined.

"I don't think that he'd want me to do this." I replied. "I don't want to tell anyone who is going to try to stop me."

"You've already beat him once." She pointed out.

"I got lucky." I argued. "I'm nowhere near as skilled as him and he was probably overconfident. I don't want to fight him again. Besides, I don't see you telling your family that you're alive. I'll tell Ollie when you tell Laurel or your dad."

"I have more than a secret identity. If they knew I've been alive this whole time, they wouldn't forgive me." Sara explained. "Do you want to train together sometime?"

"I don't know." I replied. "I have a training regimen that I follow, but we'd have to do something on the same schedule. Where do you even train?"

"I go to the YMCA next town over." She explained. I stared at her. "I'm serious. No one knows who I am there and it has enough space for me."

"How about we train in my lair?" I asked her. "We can spar in there and you can teach me how to fight hand-to-hand combat."

"Do you got enough space in there?" She questioned.

"Yes." I told her. "It's at the club, there's a secret entrance that I can let you in."

In the morning, I was woken by a call from Gabby.

"What?" I asked her in annoyance.

"Did I wake you?" She asked.

"Just tell me what you need to tell me." I demanded. I was feeling cranky.

"I thinking that maybe since Dr. Light uses electric-based attacks that maybe you could attack him with a squirt gun." She suggested.

"You want me to fight him with a Super Soaker?" I asked in disbelief. Sure, it sounded, but actually it was a good idea. "Where am I supposed to get one?"

"I already got one at Wal-Mart." She answered. "It fits on your back."

"I don't even know when I'm going to see Dr. Light again." I replied. "I guess thank you for getting it. By the way, we might have visitor in the lair today. I told Sara that I would let her train me."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Gabby asked.

"No, but it's happening." I replied. "I'm going to let her in the secret entrance. I trust her."

"I don't get the logic of trusting someone that you haven't seen in six years." She admitted.

"It's the same reason that I'm trusting you." I replied. "I've known her a lot longer than you. Sara just wants to help this city."

"How does that make her any different from your brother?" She asked.

"She was upfront about it." I remarked. "She didn't lie to me like Ollie did. The first time that I saw her, she told me exactly who she was."

Maybe it didn't make sense, but that was how it was going to be. I needed to focus. I grabbed the newspaper and saw that the front page had a story about The Mayor. On further inspection, it wasn't about the mayor of Starling City, but a gang leader called The Mayor who dealt in dealing illegal weapons. I think I would have to put Dr. Light on hold.

"Gabby, we're not going after Dr. Light anymore." I declared. "This Mayor is the new target. We can't have illegal weapons on the streets and used by idiots who probably don't even know how to them properly."

"I'll try to see what I can find on him." She agreed. At that time, I heard a banging on the back entrance. I went there, but stopped before I opened it.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"The Canary." Sara replied. I opened the door and let her in. I led her to the main room.

"The Canary?" I responded.

"Everybody's got a codename, Red." Sara replied. She then noticed Gabby at her computer. "Who's this?"

"This is Gabrielle Clark, my general manager, friend, and…" I replied before I stumbled on the last one.

"Technical advisor." Gabby finished. Yeah, that was a good title for her. "It's nice to meet you."

Sara shook her hand.

"So I got the info on the one that they call the mayor." Gabby responded. "His name is Xavier Reed. He's more than just a gang lord. He basically runs the underbelly of the Glades. The cops haven't been able to find him."

"We should probably start." I told Sara.

"Okay, come at me." Sara replied.

I charged at her and she easily grabbed me.

"Your technique is sloppy." She told me before she lightly threw me to the ground. "You should probably set up a mat in here so you can do stronger blows. Do you have combat experience?"

"Probably not anything that could be considered real." I admitted.

"What do you got?" She questioned.

"A self-defense class and I've sparred with my boyfriend before, but he didn't seem to want to hurt me." I explained.

"Well I think you need to throw that all out the window now." Sara explained. "If you get into a fight, these people will want to hurt you. They won't care that you're a girl. There is a slight chance that it will give you an advantage, but I don't think that that is something you should count on. Now take out your bow."

"Why?" I questioned.

"You need to know how to use it as a weapon." Sara explained. "The best fighters know that anything can be used as a weapon."

"Even a Super Soaker?" Gabby interrupted.

"If the situation calls it, it can." Sara replied. "Now punch me."

I thrust my fist forward and she blocked it with her own.

"Damn kid, you've got some bony fingers. It actually hurts." She replied.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I asked.

"Yeah, it is." She replied. "So have you been working out? You don't particular look skinny. Speaking of skinny, do you happen to notice if Laurel has an eating disorder?"

"I don't think she does, but I don't spend a lot of time with her." I admitted. "I'll make sure to have Ollie talk to her, unless you want to."

"It's not a good idea." She responded.

"I know you're not going to tell me, but I don't understand why you want everyone to believe that you're dead." I replied. "Anyway, I need you to go because I have to get things ready to open."

"I hope to see you again soon." She said before she left.

"She seems nice." Gabby remarked before we went upstairs.

The next day I was with Ollie at a Cash 4 Guns event that he was sponsoring in the Glades. To my surprise, Roy ended up showing up with some arms.

"Do I want to know where you got those?" I asked.

"They're from before we were together." He remarked. "I don't need them anymore.""

"Let's hope that's the case." I replied before I kissed him.

"Hey Abercrombie, long time no see." A girl with spiky black hair said to him. I had absolutely no idea she was and that worried me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Her name's Sin." Roy replied.

"And how do you know her?" I questioned.

"So does your girlfriend know about you extracurricular activities?" Sin asked.

"What is she talking about?" I inquired Roy. Was that some kind of code for cheating?

All of a sudden, a Jeep drove up. I noticed that one of the men was the Mayor.

"I don't believe that I authorized this event." The Mayor announced. "Cash for guns, I can't have that. Alright boys, open fire."

Suddenly bullets started to fly. Neither Ollie nor I could do anything about it and we had to duck for cover. I grabbed Roy, but happened to notice that Sin ended up getting hit in the arm. As soon as he drove away, the two of us took Sin to the hospital. It was time to be a hero in my civilian clothes.

When we got there, she was okay. The doctor said that they were able to get the bullet out everything turned out alright. I still wasn't going to let The Mayor get away with this, especially since someone was killed. I stood with Roy in the hall while we waited.

"Look, Sin's just a friend." He remarked.

"I believe you." I replied. "You saved her life. You don't have to beat up every crook you see to be a hero."

"I guess you're right." He agreed before he kissed me.

"I have to go." I told him. "Gabby said that she needs me at the club. I'll make sure to come back as soon as I can."

I wasn't lying. She actually had texted me to let me know that she needed me, but it wasn't the whole truth either. Hopefully she had found out where the Mayor was going to be next.

I headed back and found her. She had a smile on her face, so I imagine that it was good news.

"So did you find him?" I asked.

"No, Sara did. She said that she was going with Ollie to a shipment of weapons." Gabby explained.

"Okay that'll work too." I replied. "Have you ever thought about learning to fight? Maybe you could become my partner."

"I think I'll stick to being a technical advisor for now." She responded. "Besides someone has to watch the club while you're out saving the city and that is what you hired me for."

I began to change into my costume. I made sure to have the bulletproof vest because I was pretty sure that I was going to need it.

"I'll make sure to come back from this." I told her. "It's probably good that you don't want to fight because I don't want anything to happen to you."

I headed to the loading site. I first saw that most of the henchmen had been eliminated. I couldn't help but notice that The Mayor seemed to have a clean shot at Ollie. I realized that I had to take a shot and that I only had one shot, even if it kills him. I fired my bow and hit him in the hand, knocking his gun free. I decided to try something that I never did before and flipped down from where I was, luckily landing on my feet and not my neck.

"I'm glad you're here." Sara replied.

"You called her?" Ollie asked.

"I thought we might need some backup." She stated as I saw the mayor going for his gun. I quickly fired my net arrow and ensnared him in it.

"That's twice I saved your life in the past minute." I replied. "I think it's time for you to thank me."

Instead he pointed his bow at me.

"Let her go." Sara ordered. "There's no reason for you two to be fighting. You both want to save the city."

I decided that I didn't want to talk anymore and fled the scene. I decided that it would be best to head back to the club first so I could change and let Gabby know that I was okay.

After I was done there, I headed back to the hospital. Before I could get to the room, I noticed Sara was there, in a baseball cap.

"Sin is a friend of mine." She replied. "She's kind of my sidekick. I wanted to know if she's okay."

"She is thanks to Roy." I declared. "Sara, I want to let your family know that you're alive. It's not fair to them."

"Trust me. It is fair if you knew what I'm protecting them from." She replied. "I'll see you around kid."

So there was some much needed Thea/Sara interaction in this chapter. I have a crazy idea that I want people's opinions on. What do you think of Thea and Sara as a romantic couple. I want to see if anyone would be okay with it. Roy and Thea's relationship will be rocky when he finds out. Also yes, Malcolm is Thea's father in this but she won't find out till much later. Please don't forget to review.


	9. The League

I had let Sara sleep with me because she didn't really have anywhere except the clock tower which didn't even have a bed. Things were going good until I was awoken by her screaming. I guess she had a nightmare.

"Sorry." She apologized.

"What happened to you after the shipwreck?" I asked. I think I needed to talk to her so I could get some sleep.

"Well I managed to find a piece of driftwood and stayed on it until I was found by a boat. It was pretty embarrassing since I was in my underwear, but I was grateful." She explained. "Only I found out that the ship that I was on was not a regular ship. It was the prison ship Amazo. At first things were hard. I was the only girl on the ship. I was taken to see the captain. At first, I thought he was going to rape, but he didn't. He took a liking to me and gave me some clothes."

"So I guess you didn't have it as rough as Ollie did." I commented.

"Maybe not at first, but things weren't always easy." Sara told me. "Are you sure it's okay for me to stay here?"

"Ollie knows that you're alive." I pointed out.

"But he doesn't know that you know." Sara countered. "If you don't want him to find out your identity, this might not be a good idea."

"If you want you could tell your family that you're alive." I suggested once again.

"It's not safe for them to know." She replied.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I can't talk about it. I don't want to put you at risk." She responded. "I think I'm going to be okay to sleep."

"I wish you would open up to me." I requested before I laid back down and went back to sleep.

Sara was gone when I woke up in the morning. I felt like I just had a one-night stand. I mean Sara was hot, but I have a boyfriend….and she's not my type. I like dudes.

I went down for breakfast and found that Roy was in the house. I probably shouldn't tell him about my night with Sara because he's not supposed to know that she's alive.

"How did you get in?" I asked.

"Your brother let me in before he left." He explained. "I was hoping that we could do something together before you open the club."

"What did you want to do?" I asked.

"I kind of wanted to go to the zoo." Roy declared.

"The zoo?" I replied in confusion.

"I only got to go once as a kid and I think that it would be a nice date that we can do during the day." He answered.

"Okay, I want to see if they still have that margay from a few years ago." I replied.

"What?" Roy asked.

"It's basically like a mini leopard." I explained. "But yeah we can spend a few hours at the zoo."

Going to the zoo in November was a little bit strange. It was the last month that they were open because a lot of the animals would start hibernating soon. I managed to get us an in with the animals. I managed to see the margay, but it didn't seem to remember me. It did seem to like me and I noticed that Roy seemed to be scared to be scared of letting it crawl on his shoulders. When then decided to check out some of the animals that were in the cages like the tigers and the gorillas.

"Thea?" A voice asked. I looked to see that Sara was here wearing her baseball cap. Well that was unexpected. I didn't expect her to just be out in the open like this. I had to think of a fake name for her.

"Cara?" I responded. She seemed to realize the fake name and played along. "This is my boyfriend, Roy. Cara used to babysit me when I was younger."

"It's nice to meet you." Sara remarked as she shook Roy's hand.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked her. I needed to know what the real reason was also.

"I wanted to see the sloths." She answered. I couldn't help but picture her having a Kristen Bell-like meltdown. I love Kristen Bell.

"Do you want to come to the bathroom with me?" I questioned. She nodded and we walked away. We didn't actually go to the bathroom though. "Seriously, what are you doing here in broad daylight?"

"I like to go places in the city every now and then." She replied. "They're generally places that I won't see Laurel or my dad. I did not expect to see you here so it's my turn to ask you now."

"Roy wanted to come here." I replied. "You know I should probably get going. I need to open up the club soon."

"I guess I'll see you when I see you." She replied.

I went to find Roy to tell him that we had to go before we went to the club. I then realized that I forgot my keys.

"Okay, you stay here in case Gabby comes by. I'll go home and get my keys." I replied.

I drove home to notice that the house had several broken windows downstairs. Ollie was there with Detective Lance. I went inside and saw a few broken tables.

"What the fuck happened here?" I asked in surprise.

"Your brother seems to think that someone vandalized your house because they're still angry at your mother." Lance replied.

"I guess we'll have to up security." I told him. He then left after filing his report. "Seriously, Ollie, what really happened here? Don't give me that vandalism story because I can tell that there was obviously a fight here."

"I don't know." He lied.

"Ollie, I want the truth and you're not Jack Nicholson. I can handle the truth." I told him as I walked up to him.

"I didn't tell him the truth because Sara was here." He relented. Wow she must have moved pretty fast. "This guy came after her, but she managed to get away."

"So I was right about her being alive." I responded. I realized that I could probably tell him something without revealing my identity. "I've seen her too."

"Have you told Laurel about it?" He asked. We could still be close even if he doesn't know my secret.

"I haven't told anyone because she asked me not to." I replied. "I have to get to work after I get my keys from my room."

I knew that I would need to talk to Sara about this. I guess if someone was after her, she had a good reason not to tell her family that she was alive. I went to the club and found that the door was open, so I went downstairs to talk to Gabby.

"So I found out that someone is after…oh hi Sara." I told her, noticing her with Gabby. That was awkward.

"So I guess Ollie told you about what happened at your house." Sara remarked. "I suppose you want to know more."

"Yes, who was that came after you?" I asked.

"His name is Al-Owal." Sara explained. "He's a prominent member of the League of Assassins. He also trained Malcolm Merlyn and me."

"Are you saying that you're a member of the League of Assassins?" Gabby questioned.

"I'd like to say that I was a member." Sara corrected. "But there is only one way that you leave the league."

I had a pretty good idea what she meant about that.

"So what now they're coming after me to either bring you back or kill you?" I asked. "You can't let them do that. I'll help you."

"Thea, these aren't the kind of guys that you can just put in jail." She explained. "You have to kill them and I don't want to force you to do that."

"I think you need to open up to someone. Your dad is a cop. You should let him know that you're alive. I think he can help you." I suggested.

"I don't know." Sara replied.

"If he's already in danger, you should at least tell him." I reasoned.

"Will you come with me?" She requested. I don't know why she wanted me to come with her.

"Sara, I can't be there." I told her. "I have to manage the club. This is something that you should really do on your own. If you need my help in a fight I can do that."

"I understand." She replied before she left.

"She seems to really like you." Gabby told me.

"I've known her for a long time." I responded.

"No, I mean she seems like she _really _likes you." She replied.

"Hold up are suggesting that Sara has feelings for me?" I asked in surprise.

"Well it seems like she isn't something that smiles often, but you've made her do it a few times." Gabby pointed out.

"It's probably just a coincidence." I responded. "Besides, Sara knows that I am with Roy. She saw us together when we were at the zoo today."

"A random encounter at a place that you just happened to be, that sounds like stalking to me." Gabby commented.

"I'm not paying you for this." I replied. "Rob has called out sick and I need you to see if you can convince someone to come in tonight."

"I think that this is something that you should talk to her about, Boss." Gabby suggested before she headed upstairs.

I thought to myself that there was no way that Sara could like me like that. I mean she slept with my brother and helped him cheat on her sister to do so. If anything, she probably still has feelings for him. That's probably what it was. She has feelings for him. That's why she was with him today at the house.

I had to see if I could find anything about the League of Assassins. I know that they had to be more than just a league comprised of assassins. Malcolm was involved with them. Did that mean that the League of Assassins was involved in the Undertaking?

Maybe this was something that I could talk to my mom about. I had some time to see her.

I went to the prison to talk to her. I don't think this information would help her case at all, but I still think it might be useful.

As soon as I saw her, she gave me a hug.

"Mom, I have something that I need to talk to you about." I replied. "Did you know that Malcolm was in some sort of group called the League of Assassins?"

"How did you find this out?" Mom asked me.

"I can't tell you that." I responded.

"Well to be of any use you'd have to tell." She replied. "I don't really think that it would actually be very useful."

"So has your lawyer said anything about a deal?" I asked.

"She thinks that I can fight this." Mom declared. "I don't know if you've heard that Laurel is going to assisting with the case."

"How is that not a conflict of interest?" I questioned. I imagine that Laurel might not have been able to say no to such a thing. "She's practically family."

"She's not trying the case. She's just assisting." She pointed out. "So how are you and Oliver holding up?"

"Well someone vandalized the house today." I replied. She gasped. "It's fine. We're going to up security and we will get it fixed."

"I just hope that someone doesn't decide to show up in the middle of the night." She remarked. I doubt Sara would come back to our house after what happened.

That night, I was at the club things were still mostly quiet. I guess it was good to have a quiet night. I had plenty of quiet nights, but I was still worried about Sara. I needed to know how I could help her.

Gabby was behind the bar, which meant that she wouldn't be able to help me with anything. It made me kind of nervous to be honest.

It was about 10:00 when I got a text from Sara. She said that she might need my help and I needed to meet her at the clock tower. I headed downstairs and suited up before I headed out on the prowl. I hoped that all of this was going to turn out okay.

I headed to the clock tower and I not only found Sara but also her father and a man in a black hood. I guess she told her. The black-hooded man managed to free himself from the rope trap and took out of a knife which I shot out of his hand.

"You know her." Lance replied.

I decided to not deal with the pleasantries and just deal with the fight at hand. I shot at him against as Sara dealt the hand to hand combat. She was definitely much better at it than me. I imagine that this was that Al-Owal guy. That was when Lance took out his gun.

"Dad, I've got this." Sara remarked before she managed to grab him and snapped his neck. Her father looked a little bit shocked by it. "I'm sorry that you had to see that."

"No, I'm surprised by how strong you are." He replied. I stood quietly. "Thank you for helping my daughter."

"Dad, I can't stay." Sara remarked. "The League is going to keep sending people after me and as long as I'm here, you and Laurel are going to be in danger. I have to leave Starling City."

"But I just got you back." Lance said with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry." She replied before she gave him a hug. "Can you give me a minute alone with her? I'll meet you again at the bottom."

Her father walked down the stairs, leaving me alone with her.

"So I guess this is goodbye." I remarked.

"Yes, but here's something to remember me by." She replied before she pressed her lips against mine. I just stood there. I can't believe that Gabby was right. I didn't say anything. "I promise you that I will be back some day."

I realized that if Sara was able to open up to someone important in her life about a secret, I could too. I wasn't going to tell my brother, but I was going to tell someone. I went back to the club and made a call.

"Roy, I need you to come downstairs." I replied. "The code is your birthday."

I waited for him to come down. I hid the shadows at first.

"Thea, where are you?" He asked.

"Here." I replied as I stepped out of the shadows, with my hood down, but still in costume. "I'm Red."

So Sara definitely does have feelings for Thea, but it remains unseen if she will return them. Also she finally told Roy. What is his reaction going to be? Please don't forget to review.


	10. Light Me Up

"You're the vigilante?" Roy asked in disbelief. "You're the one who told me to stop fighting. Are you telling me that you've been fighting this whole time? How is that not hypocritical?"

"I'm not going after whoever I can get my hands on." I argued. "Plus I'm using weapons."

"I can't believe that you chose to keep this from me." He stated.

"Well judging by the way that you're reacting, I'm starting to think that it was a good idea." I pointed out.

"You hurt people, Thea." Roy declared as he stormed out. "Maybe you should go and start looking for a new waiter…and a new boyfriend."

I changed and went inside the club where Gabby was.

"This is not good." I told her. "This is why I didn't want to tell him. He doesn't get it. He doesn't understand what I do."

It wasn't half an hour later that I got a call from the police station.

"Again?" I asked.

"Yeah." Lance told me. "He'll be here whenever you need to pick him up."

So I ended leading to him getting arrested. I headed down to the station. I hoped that the bail wouldn't be too high. This was irritating.

"How much is it?" I asked Laurel and Sara's dad as I took out my checkbook.

"It's just a misunderstanding." He responded. Really?

"Let's go." I told Roy. After we left the station, I spoke. "So this is how you respond to what I told you? You go and getting yourself arrested?"

"I was helping The Arrow." Roy argued. "I've been helping as an eyes and ears."

"You've been working with my brother?" I asked him. "Yes, that's who he is. I unmasked him a few weeks ago. He doesn't know who I am though and I plan to keep it that way."

"He wanted me to find out who you were." Roy stated.

"Well you're not going to tell him." I responded. "Look you can hate me, you can break up with me, but you can't tell him. I trusted you enough to tell you my secret because I felt that you finally had a right to know."

"What's the big deal?" Roy questioned. "It's not like he's going to kill you."

"He hid his secret from me for over a year and lied to me when I asked him directly. He doesn't deserve to know my identity." I explained. "I know that you're upset, but I love you. If you love me, you won't tell anyone."

"I can make my own way home." He told me.

"Really, so you're not going to get in another fight on the way?" I challenged.

"How do I know you won't?" He quipped.

"Because I don't go after every minor villain that you see. You know the mayor who shot your friend? I ended up taking him down." I responded. "You can't stop everyone, but I'm doing my best to save as many lives as possible and I'm doing it because it is the right thing to do."

We parted ways at that point and I decided to close the club. I need to get Semisonic to come and play some time. I don't think that they're particularly busy. I was 3 years old when that song came out.

I headed home. I imagine that Sara was gone by now. I did hope that she was going to come back and not just so I could figure out why she kissed me. Speaking of which, I probably shouldn't tell Gabby that she kissed me because she already thinks Sara likes me.

In the morning, I was awoken by the phone ringing.

"Hello?" I answered sleepily.

"Is this Thea Queen?" The female voice on the end of the line asked. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"Yes." I replied. "Who's this?"

"It's Taylor Momsen from The Pretty Reckless." She replied. Holy crap, she was calling me back. "I heard that you were interested in having my band as entertainment for your club. Do you have any spots open tonight?"

"Yeah, but I'm not what I can do to advertise in time." I explained. I wasn't expecting anything so soon or at all really.

"The size of the crowd doesn't matter as long as the ones who do show up are ready to rock." Taylor remarked.

"I still can't believe that you called me back." I remarked.

"I know what your mom did." She responded. "And while I don't condone such acts, I don't think it's fair for the rest of your family to be punished. So when do you want us to go on?"

"How do you feel about going on at 9:00?" I asked. I was so psyched that she was going to be performing. I hope that I wouldn't have to miss it.

After the call was done, I was in a good mood. I noticed Ollie had a suitcase.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" He questioned.

"The Pretty Reckless is playing at the club tonight." I answered.

"I don't know who that is." He responded. That wasn't surprising. I don't think he even knew what _Gossip Girl_ was.

"So where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm heading to check out the office in Moscow." He replied.

"You do know that the trial is in a few days, don't you?" I reminded him.

"I'll be back by then. I promise." He stated as he hugged me. So I guess that I would have to protect the city by myself since both him and Sara would be gone. I was pretty sure that I would be able to handle it and maybe I wouldn't have to be completely alone. I wasn't sure if he would talk to me, though.

I went to the club to see if my staff was there. Gabby was there, but that was to be expected.

"Is Roy here?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's cleaning the bathrooms." Gabby answered. He hated cleaning the bathrooms. I guess I was glad that he was still here. I headed into the bathroom.

"Roy?" I asked.

"What?" He responded.

"I'm surprised that you're still here." I noted.

"Well getting a new job isn't easy right now." He responded.

"Come back downstairs." I told him. "I didn't get to show you everything."

I looked at Gabby and the two of us went downstairs with him.

"Why'd you tell her before me?" Roy asked.

"I actually figured it out on my own." Gabby replied. Her perfume was kind of a giveaway. "It's not the kind of thing that guys notice."

"Well I guess I know what you girls were doing down here all of the time." Roy remarked.

"You know I'm willing to let you help me with this. There is a reason that I told you." I stated. "I know that you're good at fighting, better than I am, but I don't like how you do things. I need you to be able to accept that I am in charge and we're going to do things my way. Do you think that you can handle that?"

"I'm not even sure that I know what your way is." He commented. I guess I would have to tell him.

"Well for starters, I don't want you working for my brother anymore." I declared. "Also the people that we go after will be the ones that I see fit. I don't want you to get caught again. You have to know when to walk away."

"Is there anything else?" Roy asked.

"Two things: you're supposed to stay here unless I ask you and do you know how to use a bow?" I responded.

"No." He responded. "Can you teach me?"

"It takes a lot to master it." I said. "I wouldn't even call myself a master even though I have years of archery training."

"What do you do?" Roy asked Gabby.

"I'm her technical advisor." Gabby answered. "By the way, you are not getting paid extra for this."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Roy questioned.

"Well tonight, I need you to be here for the show. I'm getting The Pretty Reckless to perform. I have to go to the radio station to advertise."

I didn't know if many people in Starling City knew who the band I was getting was. I guess saying that they were a rock band was enough, even though I'm not sure anyone listens to rock anymore.

I realized that there would be problems with what I was doing. I had to at least have a plan for what would happen if I had to leave before the show was over. Maybe I could watch the security footage. As owner of the club, I think I can do that as long as I don't distribute it to anyone.

I headed back to the club and back downstairs where Roy was still around.

"Okay, we're going to spar again, but this time I don't want you to hold anything back." I told him. "You need to know that some of the villains you might fight could be female. I told you never to underestimate your opponent."

At that moment, I kicked him to the ground. It was more him falling back in surprise than the force of my blow, but that's not the point.

It wasn't long before the band arrived. All of the soundcheck stuff went well and I sold a lot of tickets. I guess the advertising that did worked. It was going to be a hell of a show and I was excited.

When the show started, I had Gabby downstairs just in case. I was in my upstairs office as the band began to play.

_Does what I'm wearing seem to shock you, well that's okay  
Cause what I'm thinking about you is not okay  
I've got it on my mind to change my ways  
But I don't think I can be anything other than me  
No I don't think I can be anything other than me_

_Do you have a light?  
Can you make me feel alright?  
There's plenty of white to go around  
Do you think it's right when you hit me to the ground?  
Well light me up when I'm down  
Light me up when I'm down_

_Is what I'm saying seem to haunt you?  
Well, that's okay  
Cause what I'm saying about you is not okay  
I've got it on my mind to change my ways  
But I don't think I can be anything other than me  
No, I don't think I can be anything other than me_

Do you have a light?  
Can you make me feel alright?  
There's plenty of white to go around  
Do you think it's right when you hit me to the ground?  
Well, light me up when I'm down  
Just light me up when I'm down  
Just light me up when I'm down  
Light me up when I'm down

Does what I'm taking seem to bother you?  
Well, that's okay  
Cause I can't take it all without you, and I'm okay  
I've got it on my mind to change my ways  
But I don't think I can be anything other than me  
No, I don't think I can be anything other than me

Do you have a light…

At that, not only did the music suddenly stop, but all of the lights went out.

"Is this thing on?" Taylor asked. I had a pretty good idea who was behind this and I had to deal with it. I did have a backup generator that I needed to turn on, but it also meant that I would miss the show. The lights then came back on.

"That's the backup generator." I stated before I headed downstairs to suit up and talk to Gabby.

"Starling City is officially out of power and the cops are advising everyone to stay inside until they can get the power back on." Gabby explained. Well that wasn't particularly surprising.

"That should make this easier." I declared. "So did you get that new arrow ready?"

"I'm not sure if it's going to work." Gabby replied. I had her try to make an arrow that would release water for the next time that I faced Dr. Light.

I grabbed a flashlight. It was a good thing that I knew how to get to the power plant. I would have to anticipate anything that he could throw at me.

The door opened and I heard the sound of music coming from upstairs. I don't know how he managed to guess that I was going out.

"What are you doing?" He asked me.

"I'm going to the power plant to find Dr. Light." I declared. "He's big on stealing power and using it to power his weapons."

"I'm coming with." He stated.

"Right now it'll be easier for me if I don't have to watch my back. I only have one flashlight as well." I explained. "I need you to stay here. My way, remember?"

I headed out toward the power plant and took the flashlight out of the pocket of my hoodie. I would probably have to shoot in the dark if I couldn't get some light on.

I walked farther into the plant and I saw a very bright light. I headed toward it and found that it was Dr. Light's suit.

"I see that you're trying the same thing twice." I remarked.

"I see that you didn't learn your lesson the first time." He replied. He then proceeded to do something that I didn't expect. He shot a blast of electricity at me. I jumped, but he did get my leg, burning it. Okay, that wasn't something that I was expecting. I knew that he could probably shoot faster than I could, so I would have to take some moving shots which basically were shots in the dark. I took a shot at him and he caused my arrow to burn up in the air.

It was at that point that I realized something. I shot at an arrow above him and he fried it, but it was close enough to the sprinkler to set off the sprinkler system and it suddenly started to rain. He tried to unplug his power but the water poured on him causing him to be electrocuted. I wasn't sure if he was going to survive that.

I headed back to the lair. I knew I would have to put something on this burn. Seriously did this guy think that he was Elle Bishop or something? She was someone that just needed a hug because she didn't get enough as a child.

I headed back to the lair and I received a hug from Roy. I even had time to hear the last song.

So Thea doesn't know if Dr. Light is dead or not which means that he is not. Also when Thea meets the Dark Archer there may be a line from a famous movie. Also Sara won't be appearing again for a few more chapters. Please don't forget to review.


	11. Trial of the Century

I was currently at the club. The trial was tomorrow and I had to make sure that the club was going to be good under Gabby's complete control because I would be barely there if at all. I also really hoped that I wouldn't need to leave during the trial, one of the reasons being that I was testifying.

I happened to notice that Mark, one of my waiters looked kind of weird like he was sick or something.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him as he was coughing. I needed to be concerned about my employees because that's what a good boss does.

"I've been feeling weird ever since I got a flu shot a few days ago." Mark replied. "I might have the flu."

"Well go home." I instructed. "I don't want you to get anyone else sick."

I don't know why anyone would think it's a good idea to come into work sick. I understand that some people need money, but when you're sick, you need to rest and not work. I went downstairs to see that Gabby was showing Roy how to work the computer in case he ever needed to. I guess that was a good idea.

"So are you going to be okay running this place for the next few days?" I asked her.

"I'll be fine." She answered. "So are you nervous about the trial?"

"Well, my mom's lawyer has been prepping me for potential questions that could be asked, but I am nervous that I am going to say the wrong thing." I admitted.

"I'll call you if I need anything." Gabby promised.

"I really need you not to need me." I told her before I hugged Roy. "I'm glad that you're going to be there to support me in this."

"Just out of curiosity, what would we do if there was a disturbance during the trial?" Roy asked. "I mean you and your brother are both going to be there."

"I don't know." I told him. "I know that they usually come out at night and the trial is mostly during the day. It's really not something that I want to happen. So there is something that I need to tell you Gabby."

"What?" The college graduate asked.

"Mark is sick and I'm not sure if anyone else is now." I told her. "You may be short-staffed for the opening shift. If you feel the need to hire anyone, you can do that. Most importantly text me if you need anything. Definitely don't call me."

"It's going to be fine." Gabby told me. "You know if you want you could just close the club for a few days. We're not in any sort of trouble that being closed for a few days would hurt us."

"People need a place to let loose." I argued. "If we can be open, we should be open. I already plan to be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas, so let's keep it open for right now."

The next day, I was in the courtroom with Ollie and my mom. Roy was in the back, but he was here. I still can't believe that Laurel was allowed to be anywhere near this case. I was pretty sure that she didn't want to be. Did she not have any right to refuse? Yes, I know that this was a high-profile case that could really give her career a boost, but it is also a conflict of interest. I was just glad that the city was quiet right now. Although I didn't think it would happen, I would really like to not have to be Red for the duration of the trial.

The trial started with Walter being called to the stand. I guess he had a right to testify considering what he went through. I know that he didn't want to hurt me or Ollie

"Mr. Steele, can you describe the ordeal that you faced?" The prosecutor asked.

"I was abducted and held prisoner for six months under the order of Malcolm Merlyn before being rescued by the vigilante known as The Arrow." Walter answered.

"And how did you feel when you heard of your wife's involvement in the Undertaking?" The lawyer followed up.

"I had already filed for divorce before the time of the announcement." Walter replied. "I do believe that Moira did every possible thing in her power to try to prevent it."

I think that went surprisingly well. I kind of expected him to be more resentful towards her. Maybe with the right witnesses, we can still win this.

Next it was my turn to go to the stand. I was ready for this. I swore the oath. I was pretty nervous still.

"So Ms. Queen, is it true that you mother would often pay off police for your past drunken antics?" He asked me.

"That is not relevant to the case because she's not on trial for that." I stated.

"But it is true?" He repeated.

"Yes, but I think that it shows that she cares for me enough to protect me." I replied.

"Okay, so why is it that you didn't visit your mother in prison until five months after the Undertaking occurred?" He questioned. We didn't prepare for that question.

"Well…I was busy." I stammered. "I had to rebuild my brother's club before I took it over…and I was angry."

"Angry enough because she killed 503 people including one of your brother's best friend?" He asked. He seemed really pale. "If it took so long for Moira Queen's daughter to forgive her, why should the jury?"

"Are you okay?" I responded. He didn't answer before he suddenly collapsed. The paramedics then came to take him to the hospital. Well that was bad. I think that I might have screwed up.

From there, Ollie and I met with mom and her lawyer.

"This is bad." Jean said. "We were hoping that Thea would be able to paint you as a good mother who cared about her children."

"I'm sorry, Mom." I apologized.

"It's beginning to look like you might have to testify." Jean told Mom.

That night, I was at the club. I really had screwed things up. I can't believe that I screwed it up like I did. Roy came downstairs with some boxing gloves.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I know that you're angry and I feel that you need some way to channel your anger so I want you to hit me." He stated.

"You want me to hit you?" I mimicked in disbelief as he laid the gloves in front of me.

"I beats you shooting someone with an arrow." He quipped. I wasn't really in the mood for humor right about now. "You wanted to learn sparring and this is a good opportunity."

I ended up taking a few swings at him before the news feed that I was watching was suddenly interrupted.

"Greetings everyone." A weird looking individual declared. He looked like he had escaped from the loony bin. "It is I, Count Vertigo. I imagine that some of you of you are feeling a bit under the weather, like this man, ADA Adam Donner."

Okay, this was bad.

"There is one way to fix what you are dealing with: vertigo and I have the supply." The count continued. Okay, now I needed to have a word with him, even though I should probably thank him for helping me get my life on track.

At that moment, Gabby came downstairs.

"Please tell me that you're here to see if you can find where the transmission is coming from." I stated.

"Of course I am." Gabby responded as she began to type away. "It's probably not going to be easy. Are you sure that you want to do this?"

"I need to." I responded. "A hero needs to save everyone, even if the person in question is trying to kill her mother."

"A lot of people wouldn't be able to do that." Roy told me. "I know I wouldn't."

I began to get dressed while she traced the signal. I still wasn't going to kill him. I grabbed my bow. I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be alone.

After she got the signal, I managed to find his hideout. I didn't know a lot about Count Vertigo other than the fact that he was the man who created vertigo.

I kicked down the door to see if I could find Adam Donner.

"Hmm, you're not the vigilante I was hoping for." Count Vertigo declared.

"I get that a lot." I replied as I spotted the prosecutor. I would need to get him out of here and to the hospital.

"Well don't just stand there, get her." The count told his minions. I began to maneuver my way through the men. I only fired two arrows. I guess the rescue the most important part of this. I managed to get to where he was tied up and unconscious and untied him. "So now you got him, do you want to kill me? Come on take a shot. Do it Beat still my heart."

I tried to think of the best way out of here. I wished that I had someone else to help me right now because he was a bit heavy for me. I needed to channel my anger and I think I could stop him. Just as I was about to fire, Ollie entered the building.

"Well better late than never." The count replied. Now I was even more upset. I fired hitting one of his men in the shoulder.

"Get him out of here." I told my brother. "I'll deal with them."

Ollie seemed to agree with me for a change and grabbed the ADA. I began to fire my arrows, but I noticed that the Count was making his escape. He really didn't even want to deal with me. It was kind of insulting to be honest. I shot at him, but missed. He got away and I realized that it wasn't worth it to fight these guys. I did get hit in the back with a bullet as I was fleeing and it stung, but it wasn't something that needed to be immediately attended to.

I made it back to the club, and got the bullet out. I couldn't help but wonder if I should even be involved with this fight. He seemed to have his business with Ollie, not me. However, I might need to help. I couldn't let my brother get killed.

"What happened?" Roy questioned.

"I managed to get him free, but I wasn't able to catch the count." I explained. "At least I was able to do half of the mission and did what I wanted to do. He seemed to be more interested in my brother."

"So what are you going to do about it?" He asked me.

"I don't know. This was a critical situation, but I don't know if I can actively search for this guy while my mother is on trial." I responded. "I'm probably just better off letting my brother handle this one."

The next day, I was in the prison. Mom wanted to talk to me and Ollie about something.

"So I have decided that I am going to take the stand." She announced. "Before I go up there, there's something that I need to tell the two of you because I'd rather you hear it from me."

"Okay." Ollie stated.

"I had an affair with Malcolm." She remarked. I was shocked. I couldn't believe it.

"No, I asked you and you told me that you weren't." I responded in anger. "You told me that you weren't."

"I wasn't while I was married to Walter. It was a long time ago." She explained. I had to take some deep breaths. "I know this is upsetting, but I think it's important that you know this now before Laurel brings it up tomorrow in the courtroom."

"Now she's actually trying the case?" I asked. "How is that legal?"

"I don't know." She told me. Were the judge and jury too dumb to know that Laurel practically grew up in our house?

I had to leave and take out my phone.

"You shouldn't be calling me." She remarked.

"I know, but this is kind of important." I replied. "Your sister has been put in charge of trying my mom's case."

"You know that the last thing that Laurel wants to do is hurt your mom." Sara explained. "I think it'll probably help her actually. I have to go. I really need you to not call me again because I can't let anyone find out where I am."

The next day, we were back in the courtroom. Mom was at the stand.

"So did you have an affair with Malcolm Merlyn?" Laurel asked.

"Yes." Mom declared.

"So you want us to believe that you were helping Malcolm exclusively because he killed your first husband and kidnapped your second and there were no lingering romantic feelings left?" Laurel questioned.

"I was also scared that he would go after Oliver or Thea because he had threatened them." Mom added.

"So why did he not kill Walter like he killed Robert?" Laurel responded.

"I asked him not to." Mom answered.

"You asked him not to." Laurel repeated. "You expect us to believe that he would have threatened your children when he clearly spared your husband. You might not have felt anything for him, but I think he still felt something for you and he would have spared them. Therefore, you were not under duress. The prosecution rests.

Okay, that was brutal. As soon as I stepped out of the courtroom, I noticed Laurel looking like she was about to cry. It looked like it was extremely hard on her. The jury was beginning to deliberate/

A few hours later, Mom's lawyer said that the jury had reached a verdict.

"That's bad, isn't it?" I asked.

"Usually when the jury reaches a verdict this quickly it's not good." She admitted. "They'll be coming out soon."

I went out to tell Ollie.

"I need to head to the office." He said.

"But they've reached a verdict." I pointed out.

"I'll be back in time. Someone has come up and I need to take care of it." He explained before he walked off. I had a feeling that this was more than just a business thing.

In the end, the jury declared her not guilty. I was kind of shocked by the result. I thought we were screwed. I gave my mom a hug before I went back to the club. Once I was there, I found out that Ollie had killed the count and he had fallen out of the window at Queen Consolidated.

"I need to take out the trash before we close up." I told Gabby.

I headed outside with the bags of garbage. I threw one into the dumpster when suddenly an arrow flew by my face.

"Hello Thea." A voice replied. This was impossible. It was Malcolm Merlyn.

"You're dead." I responded. "You can't be here."

"There are places on Earth where death is only an illusion. I've learned to be very convincing." Malcolm explained. "Do you want to get your bow? You could use a mentor."

"I'd never work with you." I told him. "You killed my father."

"No, I am your father." He declared.

So it was The Empire Strikes Back that was the movie. Thea did not ultimately take down Count Vertigo. I thought about having him threaten Roy, but ultimately thought Thea couldn't leave. And Malcolm! Please don't forget to review.


	12. Sins of the Father

"That's not true." I argued. "That's impossible. Okay can we stop ripping off _Star Wars?_"

"Did you ask your mom when she had the affair?" Malcolm questioned. "Let me tell you. It wasn't long after my wife had died. It was 1994."

"No, my dad is dead." I stated.

"She told me that Robert was your father too." He told me. "But I've made some friends in the DA's office. By the way, tell your mom that she's welcome. I look forward to seeing you really soon."

I kind of wished that I had my bow. I had a feeling that he wasn't going to stick around.

I went inside and found Roy and Gabby.

"I need you to close up. I have to go." I replied. I headed straight the apartment complex. If anyone knew this, it would be Laurel.

I began to bang on her door. She came to the door dressed in her robe.

"Thea? It's close to midnight." Laurel stated.

"Is Malcolm my father?" I asked.

"What?" Laurel questioned in surprise.

"Is it true?" I replied frantically. "Please tell me that it's not true."

"Who told you this?" Laurel responded without the answering question, which was kind of annoying.

"It doesn't matter. Is it fucking true?" I begged.

"Yes." Laurel relented. "It was in Adam's notes. I chose not to use it because I didn't want to hurt you."

"I think I'm going to be sick." I remarked. All of that wanting to get with Tommy was now very uncomfortable. I really did feel kind of sick about it."

"Do you want to spend the night?" Laurel asked me. I suppose that it would be safer. I realized that since she had told me this, I would need to tell her the secret that I knew.

"Sara's alive." I stated.

"What?" She asked in total confusion.

"It's true." I admitted. "I have her number."

I put it on speaker and called her. I hoped that she would pick up.

"You really need to stop calling me." Sara replied.

"Sara?" Laurel asked in surprise and joy.

"You told her?" Sara responded in anger.

"I had to tell her. She told me that Malcolm was my father." I explained. "I know that you're not ready to come home, but she has a right to know."

"Just be careful." Sara told me. "And please don't tell anyone. I love you, Laurel."

"I love you too." Her sister remarked before Sara hung up. I still didn't know how I was going to tell Ollie. "So she's alive. How long have you known?"

"Sara is a former assassin and now the group that she worked for is after her and she thought that they would go after you and your dad if she stayed here, so she left after telling your dad." I told her. "You know it's late. We should probably sleep."

In the morning, I woke up and Laurel was either at work, or yelling at her dad for not telling her that Sara was alive. I needed to go home. I don't know if it was a good idea to just spring this on my mom after she just got off trial. Yes, I was mad at her for not telling me, but did I have any proof that she actually knew about it. She might not have even been sure and just told Malcom that Robert Queen was my father. I also had no idea how to tell Ollie. I mean I knew that it wouldn't change anything and he was still my brother, but it meant Tommy was as well.

After a few days, Ollie decided to have a party for welcoming Mom back to the company. I wasn't quite sure that it was a good idea. Nevertheless, I put on one of my best dresses and invited both Gabby and Roy. I wish I could have found a date for her, even though I have no idea what kind of guy she likes. Come to think of it, maybe we should talk about our personal lives more. I'll make sure to get her know better after the party, or maybe during it if we have time.

The first thing that I decided to do was the introduction.

"Mom, this is Gabrielle Clark, my general manager." I introduced.

"It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Queen." Gabby replied. "It's good to see you free."

"Yes, it's good to be free." Mom responded. "I hope that my daughter is treating you well."

"Yes, she is not only a great boss, but also a great friend." Gabby stated. "It feels like she saved my life."

I pulled Gabby away after that.

"Come on, you mom probably doesn't even know about Red." Gabby whispered, seeming somewhat upset by my reaction. "What's up?"

"I want to ask you some things." I told her. "What do you parents do?"

"That's what you want to know?" She responded.

"Yes, I only know the stuff that's on your resume." I answered. "I don't know what you do when you're not working or really anything you like to do."

"Well my dad is an architect and my mom used to play in a rock band." She stated.

"Thank you." I declared before I noticed her smiling. "Wait a minute. Those are the parents from How_ I Met Your Mother. _So you apparently like to joke around."

"My mother worked at a paint store and my dad was a baker." She answered. "And just because that is striking familiar to Peeta from _The Hunger Games_ doesn't mean it's not true."

"Okay, well-versed in pop culture." I added. "Is anything else that you want to tell me?"

"I am very good at lying." She responded. "Who is that dancing with your brother's girlfriend?"

I looked over to see Felicity dancing with…some guy.

"She's not his girlfriend." I pointed out.

"I thought you said that they were dating." She replied. "All I know is that they look pretty cozy."

I surveyed the room and I couldn't help but notice that someone was missing. I walked over to my brother. I can't believe that I had another one.

"Did you see where Roy went?" I asked him.

"He said that he had somewhere that he needed to be." Ollie responded. I wanted to tell him the truth, but I wasn't sure how. He would wonder how I found out. I couldn't tell him that Malcolm was alive, because he was already upset about how he failed to stop the device. He would feel worse if he knew that he failed to kill Malcolm.

After the party, I sent Gabby to the club. I decided to head somewhere else. I needed to say some more things to him.

"Hey, Tommy." I remarked. "I can't believe it. You were my brother. Everything that I felt for you now disgusts me. I guess it makes a lot sense. You tried to help when Ollie was gone. I can't believe that the Undertaking was by both of my parents. I know that it wasn't willing, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. Part of me wants to give up, but I can't."

"No, you can't." A voice agreed. Malcolm was standing behind me. "My biggest regret was that my son died. I failed him just like I failed Rebecca. I don't want to fail you the same way."

"You can try to justify it all that you want, but you are a murderer." I told him. "My mom went to prison for what you did. I don't care if you're my dad. I am not your daughter. I am not like you."

"You know I could train you to be unbeatable." He replied. "You are my daughter, whether you want to be or not. I know your secret."

"Well what are you going to do with it?" I challenged. "You are a psychotic murderer and you can't tell anyone because you being alive means that you can be charged for every murder that you committed."

"Well you would be shaming yourself by telling anyone that I'm alive." Malcolm argued. At that point, my new communicator that Gabby had given me went off.

"Thea, there's trouble near the old sugar factory." She told me. You know this thing might be a bad idea. I should probably stick to something that isn't so easier to hear.

"I don't want you help." I told Malcolm. "You're a bad guy and I'm not. Now get out of my way."

I began to run to the club and quickly got changed, hoping that I would be able to get there in time. I got there and I didn't find whoever broke in, but I did find Ollie. He seemed to be badly injured. I took my hood down. This was bad. This was very bad. It was at that point that Felicity and Diggle came in. Well I guess I was right about them working with him.

"I should have figured this out." Felicity replied.

"What happened to him?" Diggle asked.

"I don't know." I responded. "I found him like this."

I then noticed that there was a needle sticking out of his arm. Okay, I don't know what that was.

"What are we going to do?" Felicity asked.

"We need to take him to the hospital." Diggle replied.

"We can't." I argued. "Everyone will know he's The Arrow."

"We don't have a choice." Diggle pointed out. "He's going to die and we can't take him to the basement at Queen Consolidated right now. We have to save him."

"We can take him to the club." I replied. "But we'd still need a doctor."

"I have the next best thing." Felicity replied. Felicity showed me the picture of the guy that she was dancing with. "This is Barry Allen. He should be at the Starling Central. You need to tranquilize him and bring him to your lair."

I headed to the station as I told Gabby to open up the lair for them. I found Barry and didn't hesitate to fire a dart at him. I then grabbed him and brought him with me. I was glad that he was not very heavy. I entered the lair just before he woke up.

"Please save my friend." Felicity requested. Ollie was laying on a table.

"So it seems like you're going to tell your brother." Gabby replied.

"I'm going to tell him everything." I responded. "I'm going to tell him that Malcolm is my father."

"What?" Felicity interrupted.

"It's a long story." I told her.

"Are you okay?" Gabby asked me.

"No, I'm not okay. My brother is dying and my father is a mass murderer and now this random guy knows my secret identity." I explained.

"I'm not gonna tell anyone." Barry replied.

"Just save my brother." I ordered.

"Do you have any rat poison?" Barry asked.

"You're solution to save him is to poison him?" I remarked in disbelief.

"Trust me. It's the best chance we've got." He explained. I went and got the rat poison. I looked away. I really hoped that this kid knew what he was doing. Seriously, he didn't look more than a year older than me.

After a little while, Barry seemed to be done.

"I've got him stabilized." He stated. That seemed like it was good news. "Now we just need to wait for him to wake up."

"I want everyone to leave." I instructed. "I want to be alone with my brother when he wakes."

Everyone cleared out leaving the two of us alone. I leaned over him as I waited for him to awaken. I don't know how much time passed, but it seemed like forever, before he finally opened his eyes.

"Hey, Ollie." I replied. I conveniently left my hood up, but had taken off my mask.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he stood up.

"This is my lair." I told him. "You might've noticed that I've been using it."

"I can't believe that you kept this from me." He responded.

"I didn't tell you because you never told me." I argued. "You attacked our mother."

"I wasn't going to hurt her." He declared. "I just needed some answers. This still doesn't explain how I got here."

"I found you at the factory. You were out cold. Felicity and Diggle got there just after I did and I was too worried about you to conceal my identity. Felicity called in this Barry guy to save you. I didn't want to either, but our only other way to keep you alive was to take you to the hospital which is a lot worse than one guy knowing." I explained.

"Are you sure this Allen kid is not going to tell anyone?" Ollie questioned.

"I'm not positive, but he seems to like Felicity and I think she could probably convince him." I suggested. "There's also something else that I need to tell you. It's not related to any of this, but it is still very important."

"I'm listening." He said.

"Well you know about the affair that mom had with Malcolm." I started. "Well there is something else. Something else happened on January, 18, 1995."

"Thea, Malcolm can't be your dad." He told me. It would have been comforting it wasn't true.

"Yes, he is." I responded. "This part you're really not going to like. Malcolm told me himself. He told me that the DA did a DNA test and Laurel confirmed it. Malcolm Merlyn is alive and he's my father. I haven't talked to mom about it."

"I'm sorry." He stated as he wrapped his arms around me. "This doesn't change anything."

"I know it doesn't change anything between us, but it means that my entire life up to this point has been a lie. I thought my dad was a good man."

"There's something that you need to know about Dad." He replied. "He's the reason that I started this. He left me a list of people. He killed himself and another man so I could make it to the island. So does anyone else know about you?"

"Just Roy…and Sara." I responded.

"So that means that you know Sara is alive." He deduced.

"I really miss her since she left." I admitted. At that point, I noticed my phone was ringing. It was Roy.

So now everything is out in the open. I know people probably didn't want Thea to tell him, but since he almost died, she felt like she needed to. Also Malcolm had proof. And also please read my new story The Return of the Queen. And don't forget to review.


	13. Miracle

"Where are you?" I asked Roy.

"I'm in your room. I need your help." Your brother shot me in the leg."

"I'll be right there." I said before I hung up. I then looked at me brother. "You shot Roy?"

"He was going after someone dangerous and I needed to get him to stop so he didn't get killed." Ollie explained.

"You could have tranquilized him." I argued. "Well now you're going to get the arrow of him."

We changed into civilian clothes and then headed back to the house. I hope that Roy wasn't in too much pain at the moment.

We headed back to the house where Mom was.

"Mom, I have to do something in my room before we do anything involving presents." I told her. Roy was in my room and apparently, he had Sin with him. "I brought my brother. He knows a thing or two about being shot with arrows when he was on the island."

"Do you have someone to dull the pain?" Ollie asked.

"We got whiskey." Sin replied. Ollie took the bottle and poured it on Roy's leg. Roy screamed because it stung. At that time, Ollie pulled the arrow out of it. I had taken the first aid kit from the club and began to work on it.

"So what were you even doing out there?" I questioned Roy after Ollie had left.

"Sin asked me to check out on a friend of hers. I found that he was dead with blood coming out of his eyes and I want to know why. The police weren't doing anything about it." Roy explained.

"Well you're not a vigilante." I told him. Since Sin was here, I wasn't going to say that I was at the moment. "We're going to do this my way. So what do we know?"

"I know Max disappeared shortly after going to this blood drive that that Blood guy was holding." Sin explained. Okay, it's kind of ironic that Sebastian Blood would have a blood drive.

"Well I know someone who can dig up dirt on it." I stated. I would have to talk to Laurel about it. I couldn't help but think that she would think that I needed to talk about either Malcolm or Sara.

I had Sin take Roy home because I had some things to work on. One of them involved having a discussion with my brother and doing a family Christmas thing that I didn't think that we would have.

The presents weren't much. I got some clothes for my mom and I got Ollie a really nice suit. I wasn't sure which one of them was going to be running the company at the moment.

Afterwards, I knew that I needed to talk to Ollie.

"So how long have you been doing this?" Ollie asked me.

"It started about a month before you got back." I answered. "Why did you leave the city after the Undertaking when it was worse than ever?"

"I failed." He replied. "I failed to stop it and I failed Tommy, and now I even failed to kill Malcolm."

"I needed you." I told him. "I might fight beside you, but I will not be a sidekick."

"Okay, I don't know if I'll be able to much fighting like this." He admitted. "I want to tell that you need to be extremely careful if you manage to find this guy. He is literally superhuman. There's no shame in running away if you get to live. Also if you get the chance, you have to kill him. This isn't a guy that you can put in jail."

"Well if you find out where he's going to be, let me know." I stated. "I have to find out some more information because I promised Sin."

"Where are you going?" He asked me.

"I need to talk to Laurel." I stated before I left. I supposed I could have called her, but I liked to talk to people in person. That way I could also wish her a Merry Christmas.

I once again went to her apartment and knocked on the door. I heard voices coming from inside.

"Who is it?" Laurel asked, with opening it. That was kind of strange.

"It's me." I responded. The door then opened and I saw why she asked. "You're here."

"Yes, I am." Sara replied.

"Happy Birthday." I told her. "As great as it is to see you, I need to talk to your sister."

"What do you need?" Laurel questioned. I presented her the folder from Sin.

"This guy was a friend of a friend of mine. He died after giving blood to Sebastian Blood." I stated. "Do you think you can find anything out about the rest of the people from the blood drive to see if anyone else went missing?

"I'll check up on it." Laurel promised. "Can I get you something to eat?"

"Do you have any V8 V-Fusion?" I asked. It was kind of my drink of choice ever since I stopped drinking.

"As a matter of fact, Sara brought some with her." Laurel replied. Did she know that I was coming over, and what was she even doing here?

"What are you doing here, Sara?" I said to the younger Lance.

"When you told me that Malcolm was alive, I struck a deal with Ra's Al-Ghul. If I can kill him, he'll grant me amnesty and my freedom." Sara explained. "I want to remain under the radar, but I'm back in Starling City."

I guess I was okay with that, since I didn't want Malcolm to be my father.

"Does your dad know that you're here?" I questioned.

"Yeah, he's going to be over for dinner once he gets off his shift." Laurel responded. "It's going to be the first time that we celebrate it since the accident."

"Sara, do you need a job by any chance?" I responded. "I mean I could use a waitress. The tips are actually pretty good."

"Sure." The blonde responded. I wasn't sure if she was able to say no to me. I guess I wasn't going to tell Laurel about how her sister potentially, maybe might have been in love with me. It was very awkward, not because I didn't like her, but because I wasn't sure if I did or not. I know that I loved Roy, but I didn't know if it was possible to be in love with two people at the same time, not that I am. It seemed to be possible on TV, which made things so much more complicated.

I finished my juice and realized that I should probably go. It might take Laurel a few days to figure out if there were any other people that were connected to Max. I wasn't exactly sure if this superhuman guy was going to take Christmas off. It was a good thing that we weren't going to have a Christmas dinner tonight.

I decided that since I was out, I needed to pay Gabby a visit. She might have been able to figure out some things about the guy and I just wanted to wish her a Merry Christmas since she was a friend of mine. I actually had something at the that I bought for her. I picked it up before going to her apartment.

"I got you this." I said as I presented her a box after she opened the door. "It's one of those tablets that is also a laptop. I don't personally like them, but maybe you'll be able to find a use for it."

"Thanks." Gabby replied. "I actually got you something too."

She presented me a small jewelry box. I opened it to see a pair of earrings.

"They're not just earrings." She explained. "The right one has a two-way receiver and it'll allow me to talk to you without other people being able to hear it."

"That sounds like a good idea." I replied as I attached them to my cartilage. "So how does this work?"

"Stay there." Gabby instructed as she walked to the bedroom. I then heard sound coming into my ear. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." I declared before she walked back out. "This is actually pretty cool. Thanks."

"So how is your brother?" She asked me.

"I think that he's going to be okay." I told her. "Sara is back in town."

"Did she kiss you again?" Gabby teased me and I blushed a bright red. I knew I shouldn't have told her.

"No." I declared. "I need to go."

I went home to check on Ollie. He may have been sleeping since neither of us really got a lot of it last night and I don't think that be unconscious counts as sleep. No, I know that it doesn't. It turned out that wasn't there. I thought that he wasn't going to be doing anything.

A little bit later, I was watching a Christmas movie when the broadcast was interrupted.

"This is breaking news." The reporter replied. I kind of realized that. "A violent confrontation has ended in tragedy. 2 police officers have been killed, including Detective Lucas Hilton. We can also confirm that Officer Quentin Lance was hospitalized. The suspect remains currently at large."

Okay, I guess he wasn't going to be having dinner with Laurel and Sara then. I guess Ollie was right. He needed to be stopped and it looked like I would have to be the one to do it. I don't know how I was going to stop a man that was superhuman.

Ollie came back and he looked very distraught. I gave him a hug.

"I told him to go after Gold." He stated remorsefully.

"They went of their own free will and at least Detective Lance is okay." I responded. "You can't blame yourself for every death in this city. I thought that you said that you weren't going to go out today."

"Well I wanted to get someone to take him out without you risking your own life."

"I can do this, Ollie." I told him. "I don't know how, but I am going to kill this guy. Sara came back today, so she could spend time with her dad. I'm not going to let him get away with hurting him."

I noticed him smiling, but I couldn't figure out why.

"Why are you smiling?" I questioned.

"It's just that I think you understand what it means to be a hero." He told me. "I'm proud of you."

"You can say that to me after I beat this guy." I told him before my earring went off.

"Roy's been captured. I can tell you his location." Gabby told me. He wasn't supposed to be doing things that could get him hurt.

"I'm starting to think that Roy is mentally challenged." I muttered. I looked to my brother. I have to go on a rescue mission. Hopefully I'll be able to save him and take this guy out. If you're able to come with, I'd appreciate the help."

"I don't think I can shoot right now." Ollie responded.

I hurried to the club to get dressed before I headed to the location. I need to get a second costume to put in my room in case I need it. I began to head toward the location, hoping that I wouldn't be too late to save him.

I kicked open the door as I entered the room. I saw that Roy was unconscious and bleeding from his eyes. There was a man in a mask and a bald man.

"Brother Cyrus, I need you to take care of her." The man in the mask replied. Cyrus smiled and charged at me. I jumped out of the way. I shot an arrow at him, but he didn't even seem to blink when it pierced his skin and just pulled it out. It seemed to be bent. I had to come up with another strategy. Before I could react, he grabbed and threw me at the wall. I hit it hard losing consciousness. I can't believe that I was going to die.

"You need to get up, Sis." Tommy replied. I guess this was a near-death experience. "I know what my dad did and you can't let any of that hold you back. You are strong enough to stop this guy."

I then shot up. I wasn't going to let Roy or anyone down. I fired another bow and aimed it at his face. I shot him directly in the eye, but he seemed to keep coming at me. It was at that moment that someone else jumped. She knocked the door down causing Cyrus to briefly cover his ears.

"That's it. He has advanced hearing." Sara told me. She took out a small spherical device and suddenly it emitted a sonic pulse. "You need to attack him on the inside."

I took one of my bows out and threw my arrow to the ground before I charged and jammed the arrow up his nose, piercing his brain the process, which caused him to fall to the ground dead. That was when I noticed that the man in the mask was gone. Roy was still there.

"I can save him." Sara declared. She began to do perform CPR on him. I seriously hoped that she knew what she was doing. I had to make sure that Cyrus was definitely dead and he was. I then noticed that Roy began to cough. Thank God that he's alright. "It's time to go. We have to destroy this place so it can't be used again."

I grabbed Roy and ran with him out the door as Sara threw what appeared to be a bomb in as we were leaving. Within seconds, the room was up in flames. There was no way that anyone could survive that whether they were already dead or not. I had to take some deep breaths before I hugged and then slapped Roy.

"I'm starting to wonder if you're mentally challenged." I stated. "I told you that I would handle this. You would be dead if Sara hadn't come because I don't know how to do CPR.

"What was that stuff that he injected me with?" Roy asked.

"It's a serum called Mirakiru." Sara explained. How did she know? "It's a super-serum."

So Sara is back with a mission. Also Thea is beginning to wonder if she has feelings for her. Also Roy still got dosed with the serum and Thea is not going to be Arrow's sidekick. I have a question. How would people feel about a Roy/Gabby side pairing to Thea and Sara if I go in that direction? Please don't forget to review.


	14. Shooter

A few days passed. So far Roy hasn't shown any superhuman abilities, but he may have been hiding them from me if he had. I realized that now was probably a good time to talk to Sara about the kiss.

She was staying in Laurel's apartment. Laurel was at work, so it would be free to let the air out. I let her know that I was coming over ahead of time. I knocked on the door and waited for her to answer it.

"Hey." She greeted me.

"We need to talk." I declared as I stepped inside of the apartment.

"What do you want to talk about?" Sara asked. "I know I'm not the greatest waitress in the world, but I'm getting better."

"I'm not firing you. You're working fine." I told her. "We need to talk about the kiss."

"That was several weeks ago." Sara pointed out.

"And we never talked about it." I told her. "I don't even know why it happened."

"Thea, we have something." Sara stated.

"We do?" I asked in confusion. "Since when?"

"Since I found you on the rooftop with your unconscious brother." She replied. You know that sounds completely ridiculous even though it actually happened. "You let me train in your lair and you let me sleep in your house and on top of that, you gave me a job even though I've never worked ever."

"Those are also things that friends do." I remarked. "I want to be friends with you, but I have a boyfriend who I happen to love very much. Plus me dating a girl brings paparazzi buzz which leads to the press finding out that you are actually not dead and have been hiding your identity for the past x number of years, which you don't want. Then you would have to be brought back to life and have to go to a courtroom."

"I know a great lawyer." She responded as she put her hand on my shoulder flirtatiously.

"Sara, I don't like you like that." I finally relented. "I'm not saying this to break your heart and I definitely don't want you to leave."

"Okay, I get it." She replied. "I'm not going to leave. I still have to find your dad and kill him."

"I wish you would stop calling him that." I responded. I didn't want to keep being reminded that Malcolm was my father. I wonder if I can make Sara my bodyguard. That way if Malcolm shows up, see can kill him, but right now I needed to open the club. "I'll see you when your shift starts."

I went to the club to find Gabby there. I needed to talk to her about what happened.

"So I cleared the air with Sara and she agreed to stop pursuing me." I explained.

"Wow I just wasted some money on 50 I Ship Theara stickers." Gabby remarked.

"You know that sounds less like a couple name and more like you have a lisp." I pointed out.

"So I guess that means that you are going to stay with Roy?" She asked.

"I never even thought about leaving him." I replied. "I love Roy and I'm not going to dump him someone else. Speaking of which, have you seen him doing anything superhuman?"

"Well he does seem like he can lift more." Gabby noted. "How is this super serum supposed to work anyway?"

"I have no fucking idea." I admitted. "Though, I am pretty sure that he won't be able to fly or jump over buildings. I would be really disappointed if my boyfriend was fucking Superman."

"Superman is awesome." Gabby argued.

"No one likes a perfect superhero that is only weak against a glowing green rock." I replied. "People like a hero like me, someone who is like one of them."

"Except for the cops." Gabby stated.

"Well you can't be friends with everyone." I remarked. "So I haven't had to be Red in a few days. Have you found out anything out about this guy in the mask?"

"Well I can't exactly find anything out about a guy that I didn't see." She snapped. I was surprised. "I need to take some Midol."

Okay, so right now, I had a PMSing best friend, a possibly-super boyfriend, another friend who might be in love with me and a brother who has a thing for his assistant. Things are kind of weird right now.

I turned on the TV and there was breaking news. Why is there always breaking news whenever I turn on the news? Can't they just show the weather for a change? It turned out that there was a terrorist attack at Starling National Bank with casualties reported. The only thing that I could think about was Walter. I immediately decided to call the hospital to see if he was there. I was able to find out that he wasn't there, but was treated on scene. I went back to the news to see that they were identifying the bomber as Mikron O'Jeneus and he was still at large.

"Gabby, I need you to see what you can find about this Mikron guy." I told her.

We went downstairs and Gabby got on her computer.

"So Mikron is a teenage science prodigy that has the nickname Gizmo." She explained. It sounded like the person would be able to create bombs.

"Why would he go to the bank and not take any of the money?" I questioned out loud.

"Maybe he wasn't after the money." Gabby surmised. "Isn't Starling National where the richest of the rich make due their banking?"

"Yes." I realized.

"So maybe he just wanted to kill some of the people inside." She added. "There don't seem to be any shortage of people that want to get back at the rich."

I don't understand the idea of class warfare. It seems like these people are jealous that they're not as fortunate as us. I can't help that I was born into money.

Nevertheless, I was not going to let anyone in my city get away with murder. It looked like I would have to put my search for the man in the mask on hold to stop this pipsqueak. It looks like this kid is shorter than me.

You know maybe since there are multiple heroes in this city's in possible to work on multiple cases at the same time. I should call my brother. I hoped that he wasn't too busy at the office to talk to me. I wonder if he even knew about this right now.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Do you hear about the attack at the bank?" I replied.

"Yes, I just got finished talking to Walter." Ollie responded.

"Well I want you to know that I want to take care of this one. I need your help seeing if you can find the man in the mask." I told him. "I will call if you I need assistance."

"What's Sara going to be doing?" He asked me.

"I don't know. She's trying to find and kill Malcolm." I responded. I guess I did know that then. "The point is that I've got this one. You have to let me try things for myself."

"Fine, I won't interfere unless you're in danger." He agreed. I kind of didn't want him to interfere at all, but I would rather him help me than be dead. I hope Gabby would be able to determine where Gizmo was hiding or maybe where he would strike next.

I decided that while it was still daylight, I would try to find Roy. I really hope that he wasn't cheating on me with Sin, which I don't think that he'd do, partially because I'm not sure if Sin likes boys. I don't know. A person's sexual orientation is none of my business.

Anyway, I found Roy was outside in the Glades. He had apparently found this giant tire and was trying to lift it.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I'm testing the limits of my strength." He replied.

"This doesn't mean that I want you going out on your own now." I told him. "You trying to be a hero is what got you in this mess in the first place. I have to find the man in the mask to see if there is a cure for this."

"Why would I want to be cured?" Roy asked.

"Because this isn't normal, Roy." I pointed out. "You're not supposed to be this strong."

"I don't think that guy was too focused on creating a cure." Roy opined. "There probably isn't one."

"Then we'll find out a way to make one after we stop him." I proposed. "Only right now, I have to deal with this kid named Gizmo who blew up the bank. Gabby thinks that he targeted the place because the rich people bank there."

"Why not try somewhere like the country club then?" Roy suggested. "It's where all of the bluebloods seem to hang out."

"Hey, I'm one of those bluebloods." I responded. "But that is a good idea. I'm going to need a date. You have a suit that you can wear, don't you?"

"You're going as yourself?" He asked in disbelief. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Well I can't exactly go wearing my costume and wait for him all night." I told him.

"How are you going to get into your costume if he shows up?" Roy questioned.

"I have a plan. I just need you to trust me with this." I replied.

That night, we were at the country club. I wore a black dress. I wasn't going to wear a red one because I didn't want anyone to possibly make the connection. Roy and I got into the club with no problem. It was definitely a lot classier than the club that I spent most of my nights at.

"I feel pretty uncomfortable here." Roy whispered to me.

"Well just try not to get into any fights because chances are you could kill someone." I told him.

"I'm sorry that I made you do that." He apologized as we took the dance floor.

"I was probably going to do it anyway for what he did to my brother." I admitted. "But I don't think that I'm going to kill this kid."

It seemed pretty quiet. I don't know if he was going to show up. All of a sudden, the door flew open. In came a jet pack with Gizmo on it. He was wearing a jumpsuit, which was ironic because that would be what he was wearing after he was arrested.

"Hello, Starling Elite you can call me Gizmo." He replied. "I'm here to tell you that you are all about to die."

He took out a remote and what appeared to be a toy helicopter with a machine gun came out and started shooting at people. I began to run, thankful that I already had my vest on. Once Roy and I were somewhere with no one around. I reached into my purse and pulled out my hood and a collapsible bow. I ran back out and fired a bow at him, knocking the control out of his hand.

"Hey!" He replied. "Well at least I get to meet a pretty girl tonight. Let me guess you want to kill me. Well can you stop this?"

He threw a grenade and I had to jump out of the way before it exploded. I couldn't get a shot off before he was gone, so instead I just had to chase after him.

I ran after him out into the night. He was a fast little motherfucker. It didn't help that he was flying while I was running. I decided to try out the homing arrow that Gabby made for me. I really hoped that this would work better than some of the previous ones did and I didn't want it to hit any bystanders. I wasn't even completely sure how it worked.

I followed him to a warehouse. The arrow hit him and he fell to the ground. It looked like it damaged his jetpack, but he managed to get up.

"Just surrender you little brat." I warned him.

"You're not much older than me." He pointed out.

"It seems like we've taken very different paths." I stated. "What do you have against the rich people?"

"I'm working for someone that isn't very fond of them." He replied.

"Who is he?" I demanded as I raised my bow at him.

"I didn't see his face." Gizmo responded. "He was wearing a mask."

It seemed that all roads lead back to the man in the mask. Before I could fire, he shot a grenade at me. I dodged it, but ended up falling over the railing as the platform exploded. Okay that really hurt. At I managed to get up, so I don't think that anything was broken.

"You know I don't have to kill you." He told me. "You can always join me."

"I'm not interested." I responded as I got up. I could handle this. I was not going to lose to a teenager. He began to shoot at me and I began to run, dodging every bullet while trying to get a shot off. I was finally able to get a shot from behind and hit him with my net arrow, ensnaring him so he was unable to fire. "Now who is the man in the mask?"

"I already told that I don't know." He declared. It was then that I heard police sirens and began to run. I had to get back to the club as in mine. I made it back without being caught and headed inside where Roy had already returned.

"So I see that you made it out okay." I remarked.

"Did you get him?" Roy questioned.

"Yeah, I got him." I replied. "Did you happen to find out how many people died?"

"At the moment, it's ten." Gabby answered.

"I got shot, but the bullet didn't pierce my skin." Roy explained.

"While that's a good thing, we still need to find a cure. It turns out Gizmo was also working the man in the mask." I explained. "I am going to find this guy and I'm not going to show him any mercy."

So Thea and Sara have currently been sunk, much to Gabby's disappointment. Also the villain of the episode is Gizmo, who is played by Reed Alexander. Will Thea be able to find Brother Blood and cure Roy? Will Sara kill Malcolm? Please don't forget to review.


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